The synthesis of large mesopores alumina by microemulsion templating, their characterization and properties as catalyst support

Abstract

Large mesoporous aluminas have been prepared by the hydrolysis of aluminum tri-sec-butoxide in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) using oil-in-water microemulsion template. These resulting materials showed a disordered mesostructure with large mesopore frameworks. It is found to convert the intermediate phase (hydrated pseudoboehmite) into γ-Al 2O3 at 268.7 °C. The large mesoporous alumina materials possess relative narrow mesoporous size distribution, high surface area (407.2 m2/g) and pore volumes (0.877 cm3/g). The prepared materials exhibited higher performance as catalyst support than that of the similar commercial γ-Al2O3 granules. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.