Patent ID: 7005118

Claim:
A mesoporous material comprising spherical silica particles having a diameter of between 0.1 and 1.0 micron, said silica particles having an inner structure formed by chain stacks aligned substantially along the radius of the spherical particle, each of said chain stacks having pores interconnected with pores of an adjacent chain stack to form a nanotube structure in which pores of said nanotube structure extend in a substantially radial direction with respect to a center of said silica particles, said nanotube structure having a mean pore diameter between about 2.0 nm and about 4.0 nm, as measured by nitrogen adsorption, said spherical silica particles having a surface area between about 750 and about 1,050 m 2 /g and a mean pore volume between about 0.75 ml/g and about 1.0 ml/g.