Mesosynthesis of ZnO-SiO(2) porous nanocomposites with low-defect ZnO nanometric domains.

Silica-based ZnO-MCM-41 mesoporous nanocomposites with high Zn content (5≤Si/Zn≤50) have been synthesized by a one-pot surfactant-assisted procedure from aqueous solution using a cationic surfactant (CTMABr = cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) as structure-directing agent, and starting from molecular atrane complexes as inorganic hydrolytic precursors. This preparative technique allows optimization of the dispersion of the ZnO nanodomains in the silica walls. The mesoporous nature of the final materials is confirmed by x-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and N(2) adsorption-desorption isotherms.