Preparation of Ordered Mesoporous MgAl 2 O 4 Spinel via One-Pot Surfactant Assisted Method

Mesoporous MgO-Al2O3 materials, having various molar ratio (0-40 mol%) of Mg/(Mg+Al) were synthesized via self-assembly of aluminium isopropoxide, magnesium nitrate and surfactant Pluronic P123 (as template) in ethanol solution under acidic conditions by a one-pot method. Ordered mesoporous MgAl2O4 spinel can be synthesized with the molar ratio of Mg/(Mg+Al) in the range of 20-33 mol% after calcination of mesoporous MgO-Al2O3 at 800 degrees C. The resulting mesoporous MgAl2O4 materials possess ordered mesopores, high surface area (177-196 m(2)/g), and high pore volume (0.41-0.45 cm(3)/g) with narrow pore size distributions. In addition, the mesoporous structure can be maintained after water-treatment at 80 degrees C on the synthesized mesoporous materials with MgAl2O4 spinel crystallinity. However, the mesoporous structure is destroyed after water-treatment on mesoporous MgO-Al2O3 materials with amorphous pore wall.