Patent ID: 8206498

Claim:
A method of recovering a pore-forming agent from a mesostructure, comprising: (a) contacting a mesostructure having long-range crystallinity with an extraction agent under conditions of time and temperature sufficient to extract at least a portion of a pore-forming agent from said mesostructure, wherein said mesostructure comprises an inorganic material defining a plurality of mesopores having a controlled cross sectional area, and wherein said extraction agent is an acid:solvent mixture, wherein: said acid of said acid:solvent mixture is selected from the group consisting of hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, sulphuric acid, a sulphonic acid, a carboxylic acid, a halogenated acid, and mixtures of two or more thereof, and said solvent of said acid:solvent mixture is selected from the group consisting of an alcohol, acetone, dimethylformamide, methylpyrrolidone, a halogenated solvent, acetonitrile, and mixtures of two or more thereof; (b) at least partially neutralizing the acid employed in said acid:solvent extraction with an acid neutralizing agent; (c) separating said extraction agent containing at least a portion of said pore-foiming agent from said mesostructure; (d) separating at least a portion of said pore-forming agent from said extraction agent; and (e) reusing said pore-forming agent to form a mesostructure having long-range crystallinity.