Rapid synthesis of mesoporous SBA-15 molecular sieve by a microwave–hydrothermal process

Ordered, hydrothermally stable mesoporous molecular sieve SBA-15 with hexagonal channel porosity has been synthesized for the first time under microwave–hydrothermal conditions from aged precursor gel within 15 min at 373 K; the crystallized product has been characterized using X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption–desorption and transmission electron microscopy techniques.