Synthesis of length controllable mesoporous SBA-15 rods

Monodispersed SBA-15 rods with different lengths (from hexagonal platelets to short rods, and to longer rods) have been synthesized by using triblock copolymer P123 as a structure-directing agent and glycerol as a cosolvent. Our studies showed that glycerol is indispensable for tuning the length of SBA-15 rods. And, in the presence of glycerol, the length of these SBA-15 rods was reversely proportional to the concentration of the acid (HCl) in the synthetic mixture. Based on our characterizations (XRD, SEM, TEM, N2-sorption, and dynamic light scattering (DLS) analyses) and the literature results, a possible glycerol-induced growth mechanism was proposed for the formation of these SBA-15 rods. Furthermore, an adsorption of lysozyme on these SBA-15 materials was investigated and the results showed that they all exhibited rapid lysozyme immobilization and high adsorption capacity (the highest up to 907 mg g−1 for capsulelike SBA-15 synthesized at MHCl = 2.0 M).