Direct one-step synthesis of mesoporous ZnO-silicate matrix using a true liquid crystal method

In the quest of preparing mesoporous zinc oxide via true liquid crystal templating (TLCT) a novel one-step synthesis was discovered to form a mesoporous zinc oxide/silica matrix using a modified (TLCT) method. 6% wt/wt of ZnO/SiO 2 mesoporous structure was successfully synthesized and shown to have the highest BET surface area of 530 m 2 g –1 reported and pore diameter range of 22–36Å. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), N 2 sorption analysis, Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX/EDS), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS) and Ultraviolet/Visible spectroscopy (UV/VIS) were used to investigate the structural morphology and composition.