Effect of Molar Ratio and Calcination Temperature on Particle Size of CeO2/γ-Al2O3 Nanocomposites Prepared via Reverse Micelle Process

porous composite of cerium oxide and gamma aluminum oxide pigments was prepared via sol-gel processing controlled within reverse micelles of nonionic surfactant Triton X-114 in cyclohexane. The precursor was heated at several calcination temperatures between 823-1123K. This process includes three steps. In the first step of preparation the ceria sol was prepared. In the second step¡ cyclohexane was mixed with surfactant¡ distilled water and ceria sol. At last¡ gamma nano aluminum oxide was fluently injected into the mixture. The micellar ceria/γ-alumina sol precursor with different molar ratios was mechanically stirred to form a homogeneous suspension. The mixture was washed with ethanol. The effect of different molar ratios of Ce:Al on the crystallization was also studied. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis¡ transmission electron microscopy (TEM)¡ scanning electron microscopy (SEM)¡ temperature programmed reduction (TPR) technique and N2 adsorption/desorption isotherm revealed that crystalline nanosized pigments are obtained. The produced pigments possess mesoporosity with pore diameters mainly distributed between 20 to 45 nm. Surface area increases by increasing the calcination temperature. Also¡ the particle size of the pigments decreases with increasing the Ce:Al molar ratio. Prog. Color Colorants Coat. 9 (2016)¡