Effect of Polyethylene Glycol on the Properties of γ-Al2O3 Formation by Polyaluminum Chloride

A polyaluminium chloride solution with high Al13 content self-prepared was used as material for preparing the spherical γ-Al2O3 by the sol-gel and oil-drop method. Polyethylene glycol with different molecular mass was used as surfactant to investigate the effect on property of γ-Al2O3. The physical property was characterized by 27Al NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectra, X-ray diffraction, FT-IR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) and TG-DTA (thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis). The results showed that surface area, pore volume and pore size of γ-Al2O3 all increased with the increase of polyethylene glycol molecular mass in the experimental research range, and polyethylene glycol 10000 was the most suitable pore forming additive. γ-Al2O3 with surface area of 339 m2·g−1, pore volume of 0.59 cm3·g−1 and pore diameter of 6.9 nm were obtained at 450 °C.