Phase Progression
of γ‑Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Nanoparticles Synthesized
in a Solvent-Deficient Environment
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Abstract
Our
simple and uniquely cost-effective solvent-deficient synthetic method
produces 3–5 nm Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> nanoparticles which
show promise as improved industrial catalyst–supports. While
catalytic applications are sensitive to the details of the atomic
structure, a diffraction analysis of alumina nanoparticles is challenging
because of extreme size/microstrain-related peak broadening and the
similarity of the diffraction patterns of various transitional Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> phases. Here, we employ a combination of X-ray
pair-distribution function (PDF) and Rietveld methods, together with
solid-state NMR and thermogravimetry/differential thermal analysis-mass
spectrometry (TG/DTA-MS), to characterize the alumina phase-progression
in our nanoparticles as a function of calcination temperature between
300 and 1200 °C. In the solvent-deficient synthetic environment,
a boehmite precursor phase forms which transitions to γ-Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> at an extraordinarily low temperature (below
300 °C), but this γ-Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> is initially
riddled with boehmite-like stacking-fault defects that steadily disappear
during calcination in the range from 300 to 950 °C. The healing
of these defects accounts for many of the most interesting and widely
reported properties of the γ-phase