TITLE:
Elaboration of an Easy Aqueous Sol-Gel Method for the Synthesis of Micro- and Mesoporous γ-Al2O3 Supports
AUTHORS:
Vincent Claude, Hugo Solis Garcia, Cédric Wolfs, Stéphanie D. Lambert
KEYWORDS:
Sol-Gel Process, γ-Al2O3 Supports, Aqueous Synthesis, Cogelation Method
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Materials Physics and Chemistry,
Vol.7 No.7,
July
25,
2017
ABSTRACT: An aqueous sol-gel method for the synthesis of γ-Al2O3 supports has been developed for the use in tar reforming applications. It was
determined the influences of two different aluminum precursors (aluminum sec-butoxide (Al[OCH(CH3)CH2CH3]3)
and aluminum nitrate (Al(NO3)3)) on the textural and
crystallographic properties of Al2O3 supports. Only the
formation of γ-Al2O3 is aimed in order to use these alumina materials as catalytic supports, because
it presents high specific surface area and pore volume values. Additionally,
the synthesis of γ-Al2O3 was realized with the use of a functionalized silicon precursor, [3-(2-aminoethylamino)propyl]trimethoxysilane,
called
EDAS. By the presence of an ethylenediamine group in this molecule, it is
possible to chelate metallic ions and to highly increase their dispersion at a
molecular level during the synthesis of metallic catalysts supported on
alumina, which is an asset for catalytic applications. So it was developed a synthesis sol-gel
procedure for the cogelation between the functionalized silicon alkoxide EDAS
and alumina precursor. The alumina supports synthesized with Al(NO3)3 as precursor presented higher porous values than the ones obtained with aluminium sec-butoxide precursor. Since nitrate salts are much easier to
handle than alkoxides, these observations allowed validating Al(NO3)3 as aluminum source for the future synthesis procedures for metallic catalysts
supported on alumina.