Adsorption of octadecyltrichlorosilane on mesoporous SBA-15

Adsorption of octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) on mesoporous SBA-15 has been studied by using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) techniques. BET surface area analysis shows decrease of surface area from 930 to 416 m2/g after OTS adsorption. SEM pictures show close attachment of SBA-15 particles. EDAX measurements show increase of carbon weight percentage and decrease of oxygen and silicon weight percentage. XPS results closely support EDAX analysis. FTIR spectra shows presence of methyl (–CH3) and methylene (–CH2) bands and oriented OTS monolayer on SBA-15. Thermo-gravimetric analysis shows that the OTS adsorbed on SBA-15 are stable up to a temperature of 230 8C and that the OTS monolayers decompose between 230 and 400 8C.