Synthesis of highly thermally stable lanthanum-doped ordered mesoporous alumina

Highly thermally stable lanthanum-doped ordered mesoporous alumina has been prepared in a sol-gel system with salicylic acid and citric acid as interfacial protectors. When the molar ratio of alumina to lanthanum is 25.5, most La3+ ions in the resulting alumina structure showed tetracoordination. Moreover, the as-obtained sample exhibits a surface area of 305 m(2) g(-1) when calcined at 400 degrees C and can maintain an ordered mesostructure with a high surface area of 205 m(2) g(-1) even when treated at 1000 degrees C, demonstrating its high thermal stability. (C) 2011 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.