Synthesis and characterization of SBA-15 from different silica sources and investigation of the application area

Among the mesoporous materials SBA-15 is preferred with their superior properties in drug delivery systems and applications related with adsorption and catalysis. In this study, the synthesis of SBA-15 from different silica sources was investigated. In addition to pure silica sources, tailings slurry of gold mine treatment plant with high silica content was used without any pre-purification. Optimum production parameters for the synthesis of SBA-15 from tailings slurry was determined by using fractional factorial experimental design. With this developed method contributes both environment and economy of synthesis of mesoporous materials in a positive and efficient manner. Moreover, SBA-15 were surface functionalized by post-grafting synthesis in order to investigate use of SBA-15 samples, synthesized from different pure silica sources, as a carrier material for drug delivery. The release of flurbiprofen from functionalized or non-functionalized SBA-15 samples was investigated with comparison.