Aluminum hydroxide-mediated synthesis of mesoporous metal oxides by a mechanochemical nanocasting strategy†
Abstract
Mesoporous metal oxides (MOs) have attracted significant interest in heterogeneous catalysis due to their wide pore size distribution and high pore volume. Herein, we present a facile mechanochemical nanocasting strategy using aluminum hydroxide as the mesoporous structure-directing agent, which overcomes the drawbacks associated with wet template-assisted methods. In this procedure, by simply grinding a mixture of commercial aluminum hydroxide and MO precursors, a series of mesoporous MOs with high specific surface areas and narrow pore size distributions have been constructed in a short time (e.g., Fe2O3, 280 m2 g−1; Co3O4, 155 m2 g−1; CeO2, 192 m2 g−1; ZrO2, 170 m2 g−1; CuOx–CeOy, 177 m2 g−1; FeOx–CeOy, 170 m2 g−1; CoOx–CuOy–CeOz, 154 m2 g−1; CoOx–FeOy–CeOz, 133 m2 g−1). It is expected that this strategy may open up new opportunities for fabricating a number of advanced porous materials with abundant porosity in the near future.
- This article is part of the themed collection: 2019 Journal of Materials Chemistry A HOT Papers