Facile solvent-deficient synthesis of mesoporous γ-alumina with controlled pore structures

We report a simple, one-pot, solvent-deficient process using different aluminum salts to synthesize mesoporous γ-alumina without external templates or surfactants. Samples prepared from aluminum inorganic salts have a close-packed morphology, where randomly stacked fibrous crystallites of γ-alumina are obtained when utilizing aluminum alkoxides. After calcination at 700 °C for 2 h, surface areas of these nanostructured γ-aluminas range from 210 to 320 m2/g. The average pore diameters range from 6 to 18 nm, the crystallite diameters range from 3 to 4 nm, and pore volumes range from 0.4 to 1.7 cm3/g. This synthetic method provides a facile route to synthesize stable, high surface-area mesoporous aluminas having a wide range of pore sizes and volumes.

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► We synthesize mesoporous γ-aluminas via a one-pot, solvent-deficient method.
► No template or surfactant is added.
► Alumina samples exhibited different morphology and pore structures.
► A self-templating mechanism is proposed.