Precursor affected properties of nanostructured sulfated zirconia: Morphological, textural and structural correlations

Abstract

Two types of zirconium(IV)-hydroxides were synthesized differing in precursor type and preparation procedure. Impacts of material origin, synthesis parameters, sulfates incorporation, and thermal treatment onto morphological, textural and structural properties of the final material were investigated. Nanosized particles of 10-20 nm in diameter were obtained by sol-gel method when very base conditions were performed, while lowering of pH brings particles of bigger size. Zirconium(IV)-hydroxide of nitrate origin obtained by standard precipitation procedure is attributed with very small particles of nano-dimensions, as well as the highest surface area and the smallest mean pore diameter in series. The main difference between zirconium(IV)-hydroxides obtained from different precursors is in pore-size distribution, which is of bimodal type in the case of zirconium(IV)-hydroxide of alkoxide origin and monomodal class when nitrate was used as the basic material.