Control of the morphology and particle size of boehmite nanoparticles synthesized under hydrothermal conditions

The spontaneous nucleation under hydrothermal conditions often leads to aggregation of crystallizing particles, which is an undesired phenomenon when the goal is the preparation of nanocrystals with narrow particle size distribution. The present paper reports on the synthesis of boehmite nanocrystals under hydrothermal conditions. An aqueous aluminum chloride salt solution was first prepared, and the pH was increased to 11 using a 5 M sodium hydroxide solution. The hydrothermal treatment was performed at 160 degrees C for different periods of time. The system yielded relatively small (15-40 nm) boehmite crystallites aggregated into larger (160 nm) particles. To avoid the aggregation, a biocompatible polymer, sodium polyacrylate (NaPa) 2100, was employed as a size-/morphology-controlling agent. Thus, stable colloidal suspensions of rounded boehmite nanoparticles having a size between 15 and 40 nm were obtained at 160 degrees C for 24 h. Further, the effect of synthesis time on the morphological features of boehmite synthesized in such a NaPa-containing system was investigated. The increase of the synthesis time from 24 to 168 h resulted in the formation of very long boehmite fibers (1000-2000 nm) with an average diameter of about 10 nm. The boehmite samples were characterized by XRD, DLS, TEM, IR, N-2 adsorption, and zeta potential measurements. The colloidal stability of the obtained suspension was also studied.