MESOPOROUS SILICA, PROCESS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE SAME, AND USE THEREOF

摘要

A mesoporous silica having high hydrophilicity; a process by which a mesoporous silica can be prepared from inexpensive raw materials under mild conditions; and an ink absorbent and a recording sheet which exhibit high absorbency for ink and are excellent in the resistances to water and light. Specifically, 1) a mesoporous silica characterized by having a mean mesopore diameter of 1.5 to 10 nm, a specific surface area of 500 to 1400 m<2>/g as determined by the BET nitrogen adsorption method and a monolayer adsorption of 1.7 water molecules/nm<2> or above as determined at 25 DEG C ; 2) a process for the preparation of a mesoporous silica, characterized by mixing activated silica with a neutral template to conduct a reaction, and removing the template from the obtained composite; 3) an ink absorbent characterized by containing a mesoporous silica; 4) an ink absorbent slurry comprising the above ink absorbent and a solvent; and 5) a recording sheet characterized by containing the above ink absorbent.