Highly ordered mesoporous Zr-Ce-SBA-15 silica with hexagonal-platelet morphology was synthesized through a hydrothermal route by using pluronic P123 as a template, tetraethyl orthosilicate as a silica source, zirconyl chloride and cerous nitrate as a precursor. The main strategy of this method was to utilize the acidity self-generated from the hydrolysis of inorganic salts in the aqueous solutions, where no addition of mineral acids was necessary. The as-synthesized materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and N2 adsorption. Characterization reveals that the Zr-Ce-SBA-15 possesses a 2D hexagonal mesoporous structure similar to SBA-15. The average pore size, pore volume and specific surface area of the materials is 5.58 nm, 0.96 cm3/g and 776 m2/g, respectively. The hexagonal-platelet Zr-Ce-SBA-15 materials were superior to the conventional SBA-15 of rod or fiber morphology in facilitating molecular diffusion when they were used in the adsorption, separation and catalysis processes.

Key words: Zr-Ce-SBA-15, hexagonal-platelet morphology, synthesis, mesoporous material