Tailoring the pore size/wall thickness of mesoporous transition metal oxides

The pore size and wall thickness of a mesoporous transition metal oxide, Co₃O₄, have been varied systematically within the range 3.7-11.9 nm and 2.2-8.2 nm, respectively, while preserving a highly ordered 3D pore structure and highly crystalline walls. This was achieved by synthesizing a range of silica templates possessing the KIT-6 3D pore architecture with a controlled range of pore size and wall thickness, simply by varying the calcination temperature of the silica between 500 °C and 1000 °C.