Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2011
A new templating route to ordered mesoporous materials is demonstrated based on hydrogen bonding interactions and self-assembly between neutral primary amine surfactants (S°) and neutral inorganic precursors (1°). The S° I° templating pathway affords ordered mesoporous materials with thicker framework walls, smaller X-ray scattering domain sizes, and substantial textural mesoporosities in comparison to MCM-41 materials templated with quaternary ammonium cations. This synthetic strategy also allows for the facile, environmentally benign recovery of the cost-intensive template by simple solvent extraction methods.