Generalized syntheses of mesoporous γ-Al₂O₃ functionalized with metal oxides by a one-pot, two-step strategy

Although much attention has been paid to the preparation of mesoporous aluminas, limited reports are concentrated on their functionalization due to the inherent difficulty. In this work, a one-pot, two-step strategy was developed to synthesize metal (including iron, chromium, lead, and magnesium) oxides-functionalized mesoporous γ-Al₂O₃ with various contents (up to 39 wt%). The strategy permits fabrication and functionalization of mesoporous alumina in one process, thus avoiding the damage of mesostructure that usually takes place in post-modification. The obtained materials show well-expressed mesostructure, high surface area, and more important, γ-Al₂O₃ frameworks. The successful synthesis of the materials is associated with the formation of preassembled mesoporous precursors with boehmite frameworks in the first step. This makes it possible to generate γ-Al₂O₃ frameworks at the temperature as low as 500 °C, and is favorable to the maintenance of mesostructure. The guest metal oxide is thus formed and in situ coated on newly generated mesoporous γ-Al₂O₃ in the second calcination step. The materials obtained in the present study might offer potential candidates for catalytic and adsorptive applications.