Mesoporous structure of Al2O3 prepared from poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone)-modified sols of hydrous metal oxides

Mesoporous alumina with a narrow effective pore diameter distribution has been prepared using poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone)-modified sols of hydrous Al2O3 and Al2O3-ZrO2. We compare the microstructures of nanoporous aluminas prepared from electrochemically produced unmodified and modified sols of hydrous oxides and describe the formation of highly ordered mesoporous structures from a mixture of modified sols of hydrous metal oxides differing in chemical nature. Microstructural studies of uni-and biporous permeable nanosystems during heat treatment demonstrate that the pore diameter distribution in the mesoporous oxides prepared from the modified sols remains unchanged at calcination temperatures of 700 degrees C and lower. The microstructure and phase composition of the oxides depend on the initial properties of the sols.