Preparation and characterization of modified aluminum oxide catalysts

The formation of individual and modified high-purity aluminum oxides (γ-Al₂O₃) prepared from aluminum alcoholates was studied. In the study of the hydrolysis of aluminum alcoholates and modified (Zr, Ti, and Si) aluminum alcoholates, it was found that an increase in the chain length of the alkoxy group and an increase in the aging temperature or aging time in mother liquor resulted in a decrease in the concentration of an amorphous phase, an increase in the concentration of a pseudoboehmite phase, and an improvement in its crystal structure. Hydrolysis in alkaline (a 0.5 wt % solution of ammonia) or neutral solutions made it possible to obtain samples with an almost 100% pseudoboehmite content. At the same time, the samples prepared by hydrolysis in an acidic solution (a 0.1 M solution of HCl) contained a considerable amount of an amorphous phase. It was found that the specific rate of dehydration of n-butanol on the modified aluminum oxide samples linearly decreased with the concentration of donor sites and linearly increased with the concentration of acceptor sites, whose concentration was measured using the spin probe method.