Abstract
This investigation deals with the effect of calcining temperature on the mesopore structures and surface fractal dimensions of MgO-Al 2O 3-SiO 2 xerogels prepared via a two-step acid-base-catalyzed sol–gel process with/without alcohol washing before drying. The mesoporosity and surface fractal dimensions are evaluated by image analysis methods, based on FE-SEM (field emission gun-scanning electron microscopy) images. The results show that samples with alcohol washing before drying exhibit finer textures and lower sintering temperature. The mesoporosity increase before 700°C might be attributed to the microporosity reduction during large extent of further condensation (detectable weight loss), and continuous further condensation and sintering resulted in the monotonic decrease of mesoporosity above that temperature. Smoothing and sintering effects also contributed to the general decreasing trend of surface fractal dimensions with increasing temperatures. Complication of surface textures caused by heterogeneous distributions of pores resulted in the abnormal high surface fractal dimensions.
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