ABSTRACT
A variety of different species have been incorporated into a mesoporous matrix by cocondensation. For example, boron has been incorporated using either boric acid or sodium borate as the boron source [21]. The B-MCM-41 materials obtained via calcination were found to have surface areas of 900 m2 jg, whereas the material obtained by ion-exchange removal of the surfactant template was found to have a surface area of 500 m2 jg or less. This reduction in surface area was attributed to partial extraction of the boron during the ion-exchange step and partial collapse of the mesostructure. Detailed characterization revealed that the hydrolysis of the framework boron and its coordination state was highly dependent on the counterion, being stable when the counterion was either sodium or ammonium cation, and unstable in the acid (protonated) form.
