Facile synthesis of mesoporous zirconia nanocrystals in acid/base-free conditions

Abstract

The synthesis of mesoporous zirconia was usually achieved in extreme (acid or alkaline) PH conditions, which could result in generating a great deal of wastes that were not good for the environment. The one-pot vapour-induced synthesis route alternative to conventional acidification or basification was applied to prepare the mesostructured zirconia nanocrystals using the CTAB and F127 surfactant as template, respectively, in the paper. The nanomaterials exhibit well crystallinity and narrow pore size distribution centred at ranging from 3.2 to 4.9 nm. Compared with CTAB, the F127-templated products show a smaller grain size of less than 6.1 nm, a higher specific surface area of 167 m²g⁻¹ and a larger pore volume of 0.25 cm³g⁻¹. The synthesised mesoporous materials probably have important prospects as catalyst carriers and adsorbents.