Synthesis of alumina gels in amphiphilic media

This work deals with the synthesis of alumina gels from aqueous solutions of aluminum chloride in the presence of cationic surfactant molecules. The effect on the sol-gel transition of the reagent concentrations and of the synthesis temperature are first studied. The structure of the resulting wet and dried gels and the formation of liquid crystal mesophases are studied by X-ray diffraction. The thermal and structural evolutions of the gels are then characterized by thermogravimetric and X-ray diffraction measurements. Finally, nitrogen adsorption isotherms are used to investigate the porous texture of the thermally treated materials up to the transformation into α-Al2O3.