SOL-GEL ROUTE TO SYNTHESIS OF MICROPOROUS CERAMIC MEMBRANES - PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MICROPOROUS TIO2 AND ZRO2 XEROGELS

This paper focuses on the preparation and characterization of pure TiO2 and ZrO2 xerogels. The preparation method is based on a sol-gel technique using metal tert-amyloxides as precursors to produce nano-sized metal oxide particles which are subsequently packed in a gelation process, eventually resulting in microporous xerogels. The unsupported TiO2 and ZrO2 xerogels produced in this manner have a mean pore diameter less than 2 nm and more than 50% microporosity. However, these gels, in their pure form, are thermally stable only to 350-degrees-C. Improved thermal stabilities of mixed metal oxide xerogels will be reported elsewhere.