Synthesis and characterization of pure and stabilized mesoporous anatase titanias

• We synthesized mesoporous pure and Al, Si, La, or Zr-modified anatase TiO2 using a solvent deficient method.
• This method can be scaled to produce industrial-size batches.
• Stabilized anatase materials have high surface areas and thermal stabilities.
• Analysis of N2 sorption isotherms gives insight into the effects of stabilizing agents on the mesoporous structure.

The effects of dopants Al, La, Si, and Zr on the stability, surface area, and porosity of anatase were investigated. Anatase materials stabilized with 0–14 mol% La, Si, Zr, or 0–85 mol% Al were studied. Materials were characterized using XRD, TEM and N2 adsorption. Results show that (1) dopants increased the surface area and thermal stability of anatase through structural modifications and grain growth inhibition, (2) due to structural modifications it was important to select the appropriate hysteresis branch for pore diameter calculations, and (3) a thorough analysis of N2 adsorption and TEM data provided additional insight into how stabilizing agents affected the mesoporous structure. Stabilized titanias produced by this method demonstrated equivalent or higher thermal stability and surface area compared with pure anatase and previously reported materials after treatment at 400 °C and 700 °C including 22 mol% Al–TiO2 calcined at 400 °C which had a surface area of 479 ± 39 m2/g, a pore volume of 0.46 ± 0.04 cm3/g, and a pore diameter of 2.9 ± 0.2 nm.

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