The biggest difference between MCM-4 1 synthesis and traditional molecular sieve synthesis lies in the different templates used. The traditional synthesis of zeolite or molecular sieve uses a single organic small molecule or metal ion as a template. Taking ZSM-5 as an example, the typical template used is tetrapropylamine ion, and the crystal is formed by polycondensation of acid salts around the template. However, the synthesis of MCM-4 1 is different. It takes macromolecular surfactant as template, and the alkyl chain of the template is generally greater than 10 carbon atoms. There are two mechanisms for its formation, which are still being improved and perfected.
MCM-4 1 is an ordered mesoporous material and a new nano-structured material, which has the characteristics of hexagonal ordered arrangement, uniform size, continuously adjustable pore size in the range of 2- 10nm and large specific surface area.