Silica-based mesoporous organic-inorganic hybrids become increasingly attractive because they display a regular structure at the nanoscale, large specific surface areas and pore sizes between 2 and 15 nm, and readily accessible organo-functional groups.¹ They are of particular interest for analytical and electroanalytical purposes, by exploiting their advanced properties in aqueous suspensions or at an electrode/solution interfaces.^2,3

The aim of this lecture is to highlight some recent achievements performed with using such new materials in analytical chemistry and electroanalysis, by focusing primarily on mesoporous hybrids containing organo-functionnal groups bearing a net positive or negative charge. I will first point out the definite advantage of mesostructured organically-modified silicas (ensuring good accessibility to the binding sites and inducing fast transport of the analyte because of unrestricted diffusion) over their non-ordered homologues,^4,5 and their interest for electrochemical sensing.⁶ Then, discussion will be made on the effect of generating a net charge on the mesopore walls (e.g., protonation of amine groups) and the consequence it would induce on the reactivity of these nanoreactors (via the example of mercury(II) binding).^7,8 Finally, the interest of surfactant templated sulfonic acid- and/or quaternary ammonium-functionalized silica microspheres as new efficient ion exchangers and electrode modifiers will be presented.^9,10

1. Hoffmann et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2006, 45, 3216
2. Walcarius, C.R. Chimie 2005, 8, 693
3. Walcarius et al., J. Mater. Chem. 2005, 15, 3663
4. Walcarius et al., Chem. Mater. 2003, 15, 2161
5. Walcarius & Delacôte, Chem. Mater. 2003, 15, 4181
6. Walcarius et al., Electroanalysis 2003, 15, 414
7. Walcarius et al., Anal. Chim. Acta 2004, 508, 87
8. Walcarius & Delacôte, Anal. Chim. Acta 2005, 547, 3
9. Ganesan & Walcarius, Langmuir 2004, 20, 3632
10. Walcarius & Ganesan, Langmuir 2006, 22, 469

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