Siberian Federal University

The mercapto-functionalized mesoporous silicas have been synthesized via a surfactant-templated sol-gel route using the Pluronic 123 as a directing agent and investigated by different physicochemical methods. Various amounts of (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (MPTMS) from 10 to 40 % relative to TEOS have been introduced during the sol-gel synthesis with and without TEOS prehydrolysis. The specific surface of the sorbents obtained is 300 to 700 m2/g. The accessibility of the surface is ensured by the pores with a diameter of 3 to 5 nm, which is confirmed by a directly proportional relationship between the sorption capacity and the sulfur content in the samples obtained. Hg(II) and Pd(II) sorption capacities are numerically comparable and found to be 0.7 mmol/g for sorbents containing 10 % MPTMS, and about 1 mmol/g for sorbents containing 20 % MPTMS