Preparation of Mesoporous Si Nanoparticles by Magnesiothermic Reduction for the Enhanced Reactivity

In this study, mesoporous silicon nanoparticles (M-Si) were successfully prepared by a magnesiothermic reduction of mesoporous silica nanoparticles, which were synthesized by a templated sol-gel method and used as the precursors. M-Si exhibited a uniform size distribution with an average diameter of about 160 nm. The measured BET surface area was 93.0 m2 g−1, and the average pore size calculated by the BJH method was 16 nm. The large internal surface area provides rich reaction sites, resulting in unique interfacial properties and reduced mass diffusion limitations. The mechanism of the magnesiothermic reduction process was discussed. The reactivity of prepared M-Si was compared with that of commercially available non-porous Si nanopowder (with the average diameter of about 30 nm) by performing simultaneous thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry in the air. The results showed that the reaction onset temperature indicated by weight gain was advanced from 772 °C to 468 °C, indicating the promising potential of M-Si as fuel for metastable intermolecular composites.