Structure and texture of alumina aerogel monoliths made by complexation with ethyl acetonacetate

Alumina gels can be made by spontaneous gelation of alkoxides in organic solvents, their hydrolysis rate can be controlled by chelating agents and the wet gels obtained can be transformed to aerogels by supercritical drying. The present study reports on such alumina aerogels made from aluminum tri-sec-butoxide in organic solvent and complexed with ethylacetoacetate at high temperature (approx =260 deg C) in methanol. The areogels were studied by x-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption, infrared spectroscopy and exp 27 Al nuclear magnetic resonance. The results show that both the chemical complexation and drying methods can significantly affect the texture and structure of these gels.