Hydrothermal Synthesis of Mesoporous Al2O3: Influences of pH Values and Aluminum Precursors
The influences of pH values and aluminum precursors of “glucose-water-aluminum salt” reaction system on the hydrothermal synthesis of mesoporous Al2O3 were investigated. With the aid of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron diffraction spectrum (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) characterizations, we found that, under hydrothermal treatment at 180 °C for 20 h, aluminum nitrate (Al(NO3)3) could be used as the precursor to synthesize the spherical flower-like Al2O3 by using the synthesis solutions with different pH values in a certain scope; using aluminum chloride (AlCl3) as precursor, we can only get a small amount of Al2O3 composed of micro-spheres and sheets; while adopting aluminum sulfate (Al2(SO4)3) as precursor, a small amount of cubic-shape aluminum sulfate crystal can be obtained.