(45b) Fabrication and Reaction Properties of Mesoporous Silica Thin Films Inside Microreactors

Micelle-templated mesoporous silica thin films are formed on the inner walls of microreactors. Microreactors possess a high interfacial area per unit volume and the use of microreactors can be effective for heterogeneous catalytic reactions. However, the methods for immobilizing complex molecular catalysts in a micrometer-scale space are quite limited and homogeneous catalysts are flowed with reactant solutions in many cases. Micelle-templated mesoporous silicas (e.g., MCM-41 and SBA-16) possess highly ordered structures and can serve as a catalyst support inside microreactors. In this study, SBA-16 mesoporous silica films are formed inside microreactors and their structures are fully investigated. Furthermore, Al-doped SBA-16 films are formed as a heterogeneous catalyst inside microreactors since pure SBA-16 has little catalytic activity. By conducting catalytic reactions inside microreactors, the reaction properties of SBA-16 films are discussed.