Mobil Composition of Matter (MCM) is the initial name given for a series of

mesoporous A mesoporous material (or super nanoporous ) is a nanoporous material containing pores with diameters between 2 and 50 nm, according to IUPAC nomenclature. For comparison, IUPAC defines microporous material as a material having pores smaller ...

materials that were first synthesized by Mobil's researchers in 1992.

MCM-41 MCM-41 (Mobil Composition of Matter No. 41) is a mesoporous material with a hierarchical structure from a family of silicate and alumosilicate solids that were first developed by researchers at Mobil Oil Corporation and that can be used as cat ...

(Mobil Composition of Matter No. 41) and MCM-48 (Mobil Composition of Matter No. 48) are two of the most popular mesoporous

molecular sieve A molecular sieve is a material with pores (very small holes) of uniform size. These pore diameters are similar in size to small molecules, and thus large molecules cannot enter or be adsorbed, while smaller molecules can. As a mixture of molecu ...

s that are keenly studied by researchers. The most striking fact about the MCM-41 and MCM-48 is that, although composed of

amorphous silica Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one ...

wall, they possess long range ordered framework with uniform mesopores. These materials also possess large surface area, which can be up to more than 1000 m²g⁻¹. Moreover, the pore diameter of these materials can be nicely controlled within mesoporous range between 1.5 and 20 nm by adjusting the synthesis conditions and/or by employing

surfactant Surfactants are chemical compounds that decrease the surface tension between two liquids, between a gas and a liquid, or interfacial tension between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming ...

s with different chain lengths in their preparation. MCM-41 and MCM-48 have been applied as

catalyst Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...

s for various chemical reactions, as a support for drug delivery system and as

adsorbent Adsorption is the adhesion of atoms, ions or molecules from a gas, liquid or dissolved solid to a surface. This process creates a film of the ''adsorbate'' on the surface of the ''adsorbent''. This process differs from absorption, in which a ...

waste water treatment Wastewater treatment is a process used to remove contaminants from wastewater and convert it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once returned to the water cycle, the effluent creates an acceptable impact on the environme ...

. MCM-41 is a material similar to FSM-16.

References

# Kresge, C. T., Leonowicz, M. E., Roth, W. J., Vartuli, J. C. and Beck, J. S. ''Nature'', 1992. 359: 710-712. # Beck, J.S., Vartuli, J. C., Roth, W. J., Leonowicz, M. E., Kresge, C. T., Schmitt, K. D., Chu, C. T. D., Olson, D. H., Sheppard, E. W., McCullen, S. B., Higgins, J. B. and Schlenker, J. L. ''J. Am. Chem. Soc.'', 1992. 114: 10834-10843. # Beck, J. S. ''U.S. Patent 5, 057, 296''. 1991. # Huo, Q., Margolese, D. I., Ciesla, U., Denuth, D. G., Feng, P., Gier, T. E., Sieger, P., Firouzi, A., Chmelka, B. F., Schuth, F. and Stucky, G. D. ''Chem. Mater.''., 1994. 6: 1176-1191. # Choma, J., Pikus, S. and Jaroniec, M. ''Appl. Surf. Sci''., 2005. 252: 562-569. # Hamoudi, S. and Belkacemi, K. ''J. Porous Mater''., 2004. 11: 47-54.
Materials Catalysts