Facile mechanochemical synthesis of highly mesoporous γ-Al2O3 using boehmite

A facile ball milling process was used to obtain mesoporous crystalline gamma-alumina with high specific surface area up to 389 m(2) g(-1) and large pore volume up to 1.55 cm(3) g(-1) from boehmite. First boehmite particles were efficiently dispersed into small nanocrystals, which was achieved by using ball milling with addition of a small amount of diluted nitric acid. Such pulverized alumina precursor showed the ability to self-assemble in the presence of block copolymer into mesostructures upon continued milling. Next, the direct mild thermal treatment was used to remove polymeric micelles and achieve the desired crystallinity. The as-obtained mesoporous crystalline gamma-alumina is highly suitable for several applications such as catalysis and adsorption.