Porosity of some iron(III), chromium(III), and zirconium(IV) hydroxide oxide xerogels

Porosity and density in water are studied for xerogels prepared by drying iron(III), chromium(III), and zirconium(IV) hydroxide oxide (HO) hydrogels. The hydrogels are either freshly precipitated at pH 7–11 or aged in sodium chloride or sodium sulfate solutions. The space distribution in the xerogels between the volume occupied by the constituent ions and the interstitial volume (spaces between metal-oxygen chains, mesopores, micropores, and macropores) is determined. The meso-and micropore volumes of the chromium(III) HO xerogels are two to four times the volumes of iron(III) and zirconium(IV) HO xerogels. We suggest that the microstructure of the chromium(III) HO hydrogels is almost fully inherited by their xerogels.