Preparation of Mesoporous Silica Fibers in Porous Anodic Aluminum Oxide Template

Mesoporous silica fibers were prepared within porous anodic aluminum oxide membrane (AAO) using a simple Sol-Gel method. The sample was characterized by SEM, XRD, nitrogen adsorption-desorption and TEM. The diameter and the length of the mesoporous silica fibers are depend on the pore diameter and thickness of AAO membrane, respectively. The orientation of the nanochannels in mesoporous silica fibers can be readily controlled by changing the aging environment. For the samples aged with the presence of water, all the nanochannels in the silica fibers are found to be circular around the fibers. However, for the samples aged without water, the nanochannels were found to be parallel along the fiber axes.