High‐Zirconium‐Content Nano‐Sized Bimodal Mesoporous Silicas

Silica-based nanoparticulated bimodal mesoporous materials with high Zr content (43 ≥ Si/Zr ≥ 4) have been synthesized by a one-pot surfactant-assisted procedure from a hydroalcoholic medium using a cationic surfactant (CTMABr = cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) as structure-directing agent, and starting from molecular atrane complexes of Zr and Si as hydrolytic inorganic precursors. This preparative technique allows optimization of the dispersion of the Zr guest species in the silica walls. The bimodal mesoporous nature of the final high surface area nano-sized materials is confirmed by XRD, TEM, and N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms. The small intraparticle mesopore system (with pore sizes…