Synthesis and characterization of mesoporous alumina molecular sieves using cationic surfactants

Abstract

We report a new synthetic route of thermally stable alumina mesoporous molecular sieves with a cationic surfactant, CH3(CH2)(n-1)N(CH3)(3)Br, n=12, 14 and 16. We were able to synthesize the mesoporous alumina from aluminum alkoxide precursor in the presence of cationic surfactant under hydrothermal condition without any additives. As a result, the stable alumina mesoporous molecular sieves could be synthesized in a much simpler manner. The synthesized mesoporous alumina molecular sieve (P-AMS) showed the 'wormhole-like' pore structure, high surface area, thermal stability, and aluminum sites of different coordinations.