A facile solvothermal route to synthesis of gamma-alumina with bundle-like and flower-like morphologies

Boehmite with bundle-like morphology assembled from nanofibres has been successfully synthesized by solvothermal method from AlCl3 center dot 6H(2)O in ethylene glycol (EG) at 200 degrees C for 10 h. Using 1,4-Butanediol instead of EG, the Al-11(OH)(30)Cl-3 with flower-like morphology assembled from nanosheets was obtained at 200 degrees C for 6 h. The gamma-alumina with similar morphology was obtained by thermal decomposition of the boehmite or Al-11(OH)(30)Cl-3 at 500 degrees C for 3 h in air. The products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TG). The method is simple and does not need any surfactant or template or base. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved