Comparative Study of Ultrasound Stimulation and Conventional Heating Methods on the Preparation of Nanosized γ-Al2O3

Abstract

This work addresses the advantages of the ultrasound stimulation method over the conventional heating method for the preparation of nanosized γ-Al2O3. The γ-Al2O3 obtained by calcination of boehmite at 600 °C is derived from the inexpensive aluminum chloride salt by the precipitation route. Thermal evolution, phase transformation, surface area, and particle size distribution of the boehmite and γ-Al2O3 are characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared analysis (FT-IR), nitrogen adsorption−desorption isothermal data, and dynamic light scattering analysis (DLS). The γ-Al2O3 prepared by ultrasound stimulation has higher surface area (256 m2 g−1), bigger pore diameter (6.06 nm) and larger cumulative pore volume (0.388 cm3 g−1) than the conventional heating method (surface area, pore diameter, and pore volume of 219 m2 g−1, 5.61 nm, 0.307 cm3 g−1, respectively), which are even higher than the value reported in the literature for γ-Al2O3 synthesized at 10...