Aluminium nitrate as a precursor of mesoporous aluminium oxides

The thermal transformations of the products of hydrous aluminium nitrate hydrolysis in ammonia medium were studied by thermal analysis, mass spectrometry, infrared spectrophotometry, X-ray phase analysis, and sorption methods. Experiments have shown that the hydrolysis of hydrous aluminium nitrate in ammonia medium at pH=6-7 leads to the formation of boehmite. The degree of crystallinity of this product increases, if the hydrolysis is carried out for 264 h at 100°C, with respect the samples separated from the mother liquor just after completing the dosage of the reagents. It has also been found that aluminium oxide, obtained by thermal decomposition of the products of hydrolysis carried out for 264 h at an increased temperature, is characterized by a well developed specific surface, stable at high temperatures, amounting to about 100 m2 g^-1, after calcination for 2 h at 1200°C. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.