Sol-gel polymer-template synthesis of mesoporous WO3/ZrO2

A method has been designed for the synthesis of mesoporous Wo(3)/ZrO2 using polyvinyl alcohol as a template. The materials synthesized by the method p ossess high specific surface area (S = 200-300 m(2) g(-1)) after calcinatio n at 600-700 degreesC. By X-ray diffraction analysis and UV-VIS spectroscop y techniques it has been shown that, in the structure of the WO3/ZrO2 sampl es, there are phases of tetragonal ZrO2 and clusters of WO3 that are charac terized by a forbidden gap of E-0 = 3.40 eV. Heating of the samples up to 8 00 degreesC leads to enlargement of the ZrO2 crystals and WO3 clusters (E-0 = 3.03 eV), and the appearance of a WO3 phase. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B .V. All rights reserved.