One-pot synthesis of well ordered mesoporous magnetic carriers

Abstract

The facile preparation of a mesoporous magnetic carrier technology is demonstrated. The micron-sized spherical mesostructured particles are prepared using a newly-developed, one-step, combined emulsion and solvent evaporation (ESE) method. The surfactant-templated silica matrix display a well-ordered internal pore architecture. Very limited pore blocking, and only to a limited degree disordered- or worm-like structures are observed, induced by the iron oxide nanoparticles added to provide the superparamagnetic properties.The iron oxide content was precisely controlled, and the magnetic properties were well preserved during the process. Finally we demonstrate the applicability of the magnetically separable mesoporous material as an adsorbent for specific dissolved materials from dilute aqueous solutions.