Investigation of the physicochemical aspects from natural kaolin to Al-MCM-41 mesoporous materials

► Mesoporous Al-MCM-41 with surface area of 1041 m2/g is synthesized from kaolin. ► Pretreatment for kaolin is essential to the successful production of Al-MCM-41. ► A general mechanism for the formation of Al-MCM-41 from kaolin is proposed.