Mesoporous spinel MgAl2O4 prepared by in situ modification of boehmite solparticle surface: I Synthesis and characterization of the unsupported membranes

Mesoporous spinel membranes as ultrafiltration membranes were prepared thro ugh a novel sol-gel technique. By in situ modification of the sol particle surface during the sol-gel process, control of the material structure on a nanometer scale from the earliest stages of processing was realized. Nano-p articles with a chocolate-nut-like morphology, i.e. spinel MgAl2O4 as a she ll and gamma -Al2O3 as a core, were first revealed by HRTEM results. The fo rmation of the spinel phase was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). N-2 a dsorption-desorption results showed that the mesoporous membranes had a nar row pore size distribution. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reser ved.