Synthesis and characterization of mesoporous alumina, and adsorption performance for n-butane

Samples of mesoporous alumina were synthesized by the sol–gel method, using carbohydrate as template and aluminium isopropoxide as the source of aluminium. XRD, FT-IR, TEM, and N2 adsorption–desorption analysis were used to characterize the effect of synthetic conditions on the composition and structure of the samples. Adsorption capacity for n-butane was evaluated, and the breakthrough curves were simulated by use of a mathematic model. The results showed that the γ-Al2O3 samples had a mesoporous structure. The specific surface area of samples ranged from 195.9 to 280.1 m2/g. Samples had a narrow pore-size distribution (3–15 nm) and the pore volume ranged from 0.38 to 0.49 cm3/g. The sample with sucrose as template had a wider pore distribution and larger pore diameter, and so had good adsorption properties. The adsorption capacity of ASu-2 reached 3.68 mmol/g adsorbent.