Confinement of zinc oxide nanoparticles in ordered mesoporous silica MCM-41

Mesoporous silica (MS) and zinc loaded MS composites have been synthesized and characterized using high resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, UV–visible spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Thermal treatment of the zinc loaded MS composite lead to the formation of ZnO–MS composite. The well ordered uniform pore structure of MS (pore size ∼3.4 nm) is found to remain stable even after 30% Zn loading albeit decrease in the pore size 1.2 nm indicates the formation of ZnO inside the pores.