Microstructural analysis of the effects of polyvinyl alcohol content on the porosity of sol–gel derived alumina ceramics

Macro- and mesoporous alumina materials were prepared from aluminium triisopropylate by acid catalyzed sol–gel process as non-supported porous membranes and as bulk alumina. The thermal behavior of the bulk alumina gel produced with and without polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was studied by thermal analysis. The effects of different PVA contents at two different calcination temperatures on the characteristics of the prepared materials were investigated. The variation of mesoporous texture, pore size and morphology, were determined by nitrogen adsorption/desorption analysis and TEM. Macroporous size distribution determined using mercury porosimetry. SEM was used to observe the pore structure of these samples.