Facile synthesis of mesoporous ZnAl 2O 4 thin films through the evaporation-induced self-assembly method

Abstract

Mesoporous ZnAl 2O 4 thin films have been successfully synthesized using aluminum chloride and zinc chloride as the inorganic precursors, triblock copolymer Pluronic F-127 as the structure-directing agents, through the evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) method. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) patterns show that the sample is single-phase cubic material with the spinel-type structure. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to study the mesoporous structure of ZnAl 2O 4 materials. The specific surface area determined by BET surface area measurement was found to be 108.4 m 2 g −1 . The possible formation mechanism of mesoporous ZnAl 2O 4 thin films was discussed.