Synthesis of Mesoporous Ti-P-Al Material with High Thermal Stability by Post-Synthetic Treatment

Mesostructured TiO2 was prepared hydrothermally using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as the structure-directing agent, and the mesoporous Ti-P-Al material with high thermal stability was subsequently synthesized by a two-step post-synthetic treatment. The sample was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and N2 adsorption. The composition of the starting gel system greatly affected the mesostructure of the TiO2 materials. With a gel composition of Ti(SO4)2:CTAB:H2O = 1:0.54:430 and after being treated at 363 K for 10–20 min, an ordered TiO2 mesostructure was obtained, which presented better long-range order after being treated with 0.25 mol/L phosphoric acid solution. Further treatment with AlCl3 solution resulted in a mesoporous Ti-P-Al material with high thermal stability, which had a high BET specific surface area of 382 m2/g and a pore size of 3.13 nm after calcination at 873 K.