Tailored ordered porous alumina with well-defined and uniform pore-structure

Abstract Well-defined and uniform pore-structure (WDUPS) Al 2 O 3 catalyst supports were prepared by coating specially treated SiO 2 opals with Al 2 O 3 . The pore-size of the WDUPS Al 2 O 3 can be tailored in the range of meso- to macro-size by using different-sized microspheres to fabricate the SiO 2 opal. The optimal amount of Al 2 O 3 coating, which keeps the pore structure of SiO 2 template intact, was determined to be of the 1–2 atomic layers. The surface acid amount of WDUPS Al 2 O 3 significantly increased with the Al 2 O 3 coating until one atomic layer formed. When the SiO 2 opals were coated with optimal amount of Al 2 O 3 , the obtained WDUPS Al 2 O 3 showed a uniform acid density. With these characteristics, the WDUPS Al 2 O 3 support is ideal material for fundamental research in catalysis. The method is promising strategy to obtain other catalytic materials with the same structure.