Mesoporous Fe–alumina films prepared via sol–gel route

•Mesoporous Fe–alumina films were prepared by a sol–gel method.•Fe–alumina films have narrow pore size distribution and show catalytic activity.•The pore size of alumina films increases with iron oxide content.•Fe2O3 was homogenously distributed in alumina matrix in XRD-amorphous form.

7–9 μm thick mesoporous alumina films with a uniform distribution of iron have been prepared by a sol–gel method. The textural and morphological properties of these films have been studied by means of XRD, SEM equipped with EDX, HRTEM, STEM-HAADF-EDX, N2 adsorption at 77 K. It is shown that iron insertion results in some shift in textural characteristics, and appearing of catalytic activity in hydrogen peroxide catalytic decomposition, comparing to pure alumina film. The initial rate of decomposition does not depend on, while the conversion increases with iron content.The prepared films can be applied as catalytically active ultra- and nanofiltration layers of ceramic membranes, which allow combination of mechanical filtration and catalytic oxidation of organic compounds in a flow.

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