Evolution of pore and surface characteristics of silica xerogels during calcining Original Research Article

This paper has investigated the effect of calcining temperature (600–1000°C) on the mesopore structure and surface fractal dimension of silica xerogels derived from two-step acid–base-catalyzed TEOS (tetraethyl orthosilicate) systems. Two base contents were adopted in the base step. FE–SEM (field emission gun-scanning electron microscopy) observation and XRD (X-ray diffraction) analysis indicate that gel coarsening, agglomeration and sintering occurred successively with increasing temperature, and those prepared with higher base content exhibit easier agglomeration, lower sintering temperature and weaker crystallizability. Percent mesoporosity and surface fractal dimensions evaluation via image analysis methods shows that the mesoporosity of those prepared with lower base content increases below 700°C and decline at higher temperatures, while the surface fractal dimension appears to decrease above 800°C.