Firstly, a series of composite thin films composed of mesoporous silica (SBA-15) filled in polyimide were synthesized. The effect of SBA-15 modified with functional group octytrimethoxysilane (OTMS) or 3-aminopropyl trimethoxy silane (ATS) on the mechanical and dielectric properties as well as the thermal stability of thin films were investigated. The tensile strength and elongation of the composite films containing SBA-15 modified with ATS were higher than those with OTMS and pristine SBA-15. It was found that the poly(amic acid) containing SBA-15 modified with ATS composite films prepared are thermally stable, and have maximum tensile/elongation and low Dk (2.8). The possible mechanistic route is discussed, and the results indicate that the SBA-15 modified by ATS is a good candidate for use as an additive in polyimide to reduce dielectric constant and markedly improve mechanical and thermally properties of the composite films.
Secondly, hydrous ruthenium oxide (RuOxHy) particles composed of nanocrystallites of ~5 nm in size were prepared, using hexagonal self-ordered mesoporous SiO2 (SBA-15) as a template and RuCl3 as the ruthenium precursor. The material is electrically conductive and has a highly mesoporous structure with a sharp distribution of fine pores of size around 3~4 nm. An extremely high specific capacitance of 954 F/g measured at 1mV/s was obtained from electrochemical capacitor made with the material. Rectangular shape of the cyclic voltammetry was observed even increasing the scan rate to about 100mV/s. The capacitor efficiency can be kept at a constant value of 95~98 % at a wide range of current from 10 to 300 mA. The results reveal that the finely and highly mesoporous ruthenium oxide prepared by the templating method has sufficiently high rate capability in H2SO4 media and is promising for energy storage devices such as supercapacitors.

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