Growth and characterization of mesoporous silica films

The synthesis of surfactant-templated silicate materials has developed rapidly over the past decade. The uniform controlled pore sizes created in the amorphous silicate framework by this method show promise as catalyst supports, sensors, filtration membranes and in a variety of optoelectronic applications. Formation of these materials in a thin-film or membrane geometry is therefore an active area of research. This review covers the methods currently used to produce thin-film silicate?surfactant composites, with an emphasis on the mechanism of mesostructure formation and the types of composite structure formed in each case. Solvent evaporation methods such as dip coating, spin coating and casting are treated first, followed by methods involving the spontaneous growth of the surfactant?silicate composite as either a self-supporting film or on a substrate such as mica, graphite or silicon.