Abstract
Monolithic titania materials with macro-mesoporosity bimodal texture have been prepared through a template-free sol–gel approach, based on the reaction of hydrolysis and polycondensation of titanium isopropoxide promoted by the slow released water from esterification between acetic acid and methanol under a strong acidic condition. With the coarsening of the titania oligomers, phase separation and sol–gel transition processes take place so as to form a homogeneous gel system that will change into a monolith after aging, drying and heat treatment. The synthesized titania monolith possesses a specific surface area of 77 m2 g−1 (calcined at 350 °C), an anatase with partly rutile crystallite structure and great mechanical strength. The synthesis method applied here is simple and easy to implement as no extra chemical modifier such as poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and formamide is needed to control the process. The properties of biomodal porous structure, satisfactory surface area and high mechanical strength will enable the monolith to be served as a chromatography column to separate phosphorus organo-compounds.
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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 20875069) and the Science Foundation for Young Teachers of Tianjin University of Commerce (Grant No. 090107).
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Zhao, J., Jiang, ZT., Tan, J. et al. Sol–gel synthesis and characterization of titania monolith with bimodal porosity. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 58, 436–441 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-011-2410-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-011-2410-2