Carboxyl-modified SBA-15 rod-like mesoporous materials have been synthesized by a facile rapid co-condensation of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) and 2-cyanoethyltriethoxysilane (CTES), followed by hydrolysis of cyanide groups in sulfuric acid. The concentration of carboxylic groups was varied by changing the silica source ratio of CTES/TEOS from 0.05 to 0.3. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the uniform ordered mesoporous structure and rod-like morphology of SBA-15 have been preserved even at the high concentration of carboxylic groups employed. Characterization by Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), solid-state NMR investigation indicated that carboxylic groups have been successfully grafted onto the surface of SBA-15 through siloxane bonds [(O-3)Si-CH2-CH2-COON. The negative charges of the modified SBA-15 materials were enhanced by the presence of the carboxylic groups on the surface. The capacity of lysozyme adsorption of the modified SBA-15 materials were found to be significantly improved as compared with pure silica SBA-15. The maximum amount of lysozyme adsorption on carboxyl-modified was increased with the pH of solution increased from 5.5 to 9.0. (c) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.