Recent progress in preparations and applications of meso-porous alumina

Meso-porous structure of alumina has a narrow pore size distribution, high specific surface area with good thermal stability compared to conventional alumina. Meso-porous alumina is characterized by surface area ∼800 m2/g and pore size from 2.0 to 10 nm. This review focuses on the different preparation methods of meso-porous alumina to improve their properties such as surface area, and pore size. Second part outlines the functionalization of meso-porous alumina as a way for enhancing their activity. Besides, the catalytic applications of meso-porous alumina are reported. Utilization of different structure-directing agents such as cationic, neutral and anionic, producing meso-porous alumina is discussed in the first part of this review. In the second part, the functionalization and the catalytic applications of meso-porous alumina are described as adsorption, catalysts and catalysts support in different industrial processes and are evaluated from the standpoint of the importance of these processes for the technological applications.