Pore shape affects the determination of the pore size of ordered mesoporous silicas by mercury intrusion.

MCM-41 and SBA-15 micelle-templated silicas are ideal reference materials to study the effect of surface roughness on pore size measurement by mercury intrusion, as the inner surface of the mesoporous channels is much rougher in the case of SBA-15 than MCM-41. In the case of MCM-41, the pressure of mercury intrusion is related to the pore size by the classical Washburn−Laplace law, while in the case of SBA-15, the pressure of intrusion is much higher than expected and classical models underevaluate the size of the channels. Defects on the pore surface of SBA-15 affect the mercury intrusion in a similar way as the deviation from cylindrical geometry does for the pores of spongelike silica gl…