Preparation of stable mesoporous inorganic oxides via nano-replication technique

Various kinds of mesoporous metal oxides with high thermal stabilities as well as crystalline frameworks have been successfully prepared using a mesoporous carbon as a template via nano-replication technique. This noble synthesis strategy for the preparation of mesoporous materials was carried out by the impregnation with the desired metal precursor. The mesoporous metal oxides calcined at 823 K exhibited 100-400 m(2)/g of BET surface areas and 3-12 nm of pore sizes. The frameworks of the mesoporous metal oxide materials were crystallized by heat treatment at 1073 K in N-2 flow before the template removal. The results indicate that the mesoporous metal oxides can be obtained by the faithful negative replication of the structure of the mesoporous carbon. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.