Low-Temperature Synthesis of Tunable Mesoporous Crystalline Transition Metal Oxides and Applications as Au Catalyst Supports

Abstract

Mesoporous transition metal oxides are of great potential as catalyst supports, shape-selective catalysts, photocatalysts, and sensor materials. Previously stable crystalline mesoporous oxides were mostly obtained by thermally induced crystallization or by segregating the nanocrystals with an amorphous phase. Here we report a novel direct approach to crystalline mesoporous frameworks via the spontaneous growth and assembly of transition metal oxide nanocrystals (i.e., rutile TiO2, fluorite CeO2, cassiterite SnO2, and anatase SnxTi1−xO2) by oxidative hydrolysis and condensation in the presence of anionic surfactants. The influences of synthesis time, surfactants with different chain lengths, concentrations of the oxidant (i.e., hydrogen peroxide), and synthesis temperatures on the composition and morphologies of the resulting materials were investigated by X-ray diffraction, N2-sorption, transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelect...