Synthesis of Porous Silica via Styrene Natural Rubber Template: The Effect of Calcination

Abstract

This paper discussed the preparation of porous silica using styrene natural rubber (SNR) sacrificial template. The preparation of porous silica based on SNR template involved three steps which were the synthesis of SNR, the formation of SNR/silica, and the formation of porous silica. The SNR sacrificial template was synthesized using styrene as monomer and deproteinized natural rubber (DPNR) latex as based material. The effects of different silica loading and mixing methods were studied to produce SNR/silica films. Calcinations process was carried out to remove SNR to produce porous silica structure. The increasing of silica loadings enhanced the porosity of the template structure. The shaker mixing method produced better porous structure compared to the mechanical stirring and the magnetic stirring methods. The porous structure was analyzed via SEM which the optimum silica loading was obtained at 15 % of silica loading.