Easy replication of Pueraria Lobata toward hierarchically ordered porous gamma-Al2O3

Hierarchically ordered porous alumina was prepared via a facile immersion-fuming-calcination process using Pueraria lobata as template. The as-prepared alumina inherited nearly all morphological features of the template, as shown by SEM observations. It also contains abundant mesopores based on nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements. The crystalline phase of the as-prepared alumina was ascertained to be gamma-alumina by analyzing its XRD pattern. Pt nanoparticles were in situ synthesized in the gamma-alumina matrix and annealed at different temperatures in N(2) atmosphere. TEM observations showed that Pt nanoparticles supported by the as-prepared alumina have significantly high thermal stability.