SBA-15 Molecular Sieve Using Clay as Silicon Sources

New sources of silica as a replacement for TEOS in the synthesis of SBA-15 are been performed by various research teams worldwide. The aim of this work is to describe the synthesis and characterization of SBA-15 made with chocolate B clay as an alternative source of silica by the hydrothermal method. Samples of classic SBA-15 were made with the traditional TEOS method. The samples of the two silica sources were characterized by DRX, EDX, and BET to evaluate the effects of the silica source on the synthesis of the molecular sieve. The chocolate B clay was efficient in the formation of the molecular sieve structure, but there was a great reduction in the surface area and total pore volume in comparison to the surface area of classic SBA-15.