Direct synthesis of porous functionalised polysilsesqiuoxanes self- bonded spheres A. M. Torchia a , M. Teodoro a , S. Fiorilli b , B. Onida b , F. Testa a *, E. Garrone b and R. Aiello a a Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica e dei Materiali, Università della Calabria, Via Pietro Bucci, Cubo 44A, I-87030 Rende (CS) Italy. Tel.: +39-0984496690; Fax: +39-0984496655; E-mail: f.testa@unical.it b Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali e Ingegneria Chimica, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, I-10129 Torino, Italy ABSTRACT Direct synthesis of functionalised hard spheres obtained starting from 1,2- bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane (BTSE) as silica precursor is reported. –SH organic moiety comes from 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMS) and –CN is obtained from 3- cyanopropyltriethoxysilane (CPTES) reagents, respectively. –CN group was hydrolysed in order to obtain –COOH functional group. Syntheses follow S + X - I + assembly pathways. 1. INTRODUCTION Silica based hybrid organic-inorganic mesoporous materials have recently found application as scavenger, in gas-chromatography, water purification, adsorption-based separations, electro-optical devices, etc. Because the control of the particle morphology and size of porous silica could open new possibilities for its emerging applications in these areas, many efforts have been devoted to the synthesis of porous spheres with controlled size. On the other hand, from a technological point of view monodispersed porous silica spheres are very promising because they can be easily packed into reactors, columns or fixed and fluidized beds. The versatility of hybrid materials comes from all the properties that can be exploited through a combination of organic and inorganic compositions. In particular, the suitable choice of organic moieties allows tailoring the material for specific applications. In this paper the synthesis of hard spheres made of silica tetrahedra with ethene moiety bridge-bounded into the material [1, 2], is reported. The pore walls have been provided with –SH, –CN and –COOH function envisaging application in the fields of removal and separation of cationic and anionic species. For example, it is well-known that the thiol- functionalized porous silica has strong binding affinities for selected heavy metal ions such as Hg 2+ , or for precious metal ions [3-6]. Anchored thiol groups can be oxidized to provide sulfonic acid moieties for applications in solid acid catalysis [7-9]. However, few papers have been published on totally morphologically well-controlled products of thiol-functionalised porous silica spheres. On the other hand, –CN function is the organic precursor necessary to obtain –COOH function of cationic resins by acid hydrolysis. 1944 From Zeolites to Porous MOF Materials – the 40 th Anniversary of International Zeolite Conference R. Xu, Z. Gao, J. Chen and W. Yan (Editors) © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.