Preparation of continuous mesoporous silica thin film on a porous tube

Abstract

A crack-free, mesoporous silica thin film (see Figure) has been formed on a macroporous support by prefilling the support pores with poly(vinyl alcohol). The ordered mesoporous silica thin film with narrow pore size distribution was synthesized via a sol-gel route. These thin films have a number of potential applications, including in membrane-based separation processes, as catalysts, and as chemical sensors.