Twofold Description of the Texture of Aluminium Oxides Prepared by the Sol—Gel Method

Abstract

To date, a complete assessment of the so-called pore-size distribution by adsorption methods has, in general, not been accomplished. This is because the diverse capillary phenomena involved in such a description of the porous structure usually undergo cooperative and/or percolative interactions which hinder complete characterization. The object of the present work was to suggest a general method for the analysis of texture and to provide specific examples which identify and describe some of the problems and possibilities of the textural characterization of porous substrata from vapour adsorption studies. A series of alumina products of very assorted morphologies were synthesized using a modified Yoldas sol-gel method, and used to demonstrate important morphological and mechanical aspects of the pore structure from the observation and analysis of their nitrogen adsorption hysteresis loops at 76 K.