The application of supercritical fluids in the preparation and processing of mesoporous materials

Supercritical fluid methodologies have been developed for preparing and processing mesoporous materials with high thermal and hydrothermal stabilities. Post-treatment of mesoporous metal oxides (silica, titania, zirconia) in supercritical carbon dioxide, in the presence of small amounts of precursors such as titanium tetraisopropoxide or tetramethoxysilane, significantly improves the hydrothermal and thermal stability of these materials. The increase in the hydrothermal/thermal stability of the mesoporous materials produced will be of great benefit for their application as catalysts, fuel cells and photovoltaics. Additionally, using a supercritical fluid deposition technique, mesoporous carbon nano-filaments were prepared as replicas from Fe-containing silica mesostructures embedded inside the channels of anodic alumina membranes.