Issue |
Sci. Tech. Energ. Transition
Volume 79, 2024
Synthesis and characterisation of porous materials for clean energy applications
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | 84 | |
Number of page(s) | 14 | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.2516/stet/2024050 | |
Published online | 23 October 2024 |
Regular Article
Investigating the crystallite morphologies and aggregation in boehmite powders: a combined analysis of two- and three-dimensional electron microscopy with X-ray diffraction
1
Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg (IPCMS), UMR 7504 CNRS – Université de Strasbourg, 23 Rue du Loess, 67200 Strasbourg, France
2
IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN), Rond-Point de l’Echangeur de Solaize, BP 3-69360, Solaize, France
3
Physicochimie des Electrolytes et Nanosystèmes interfaciaux Laboratory (PHENIX), CNRS and University Pierre et Marie Curie, 75252 Paris cedex 5, France
4
IFP Energies Nouvelles (IFPEN), 1 et 4 avenue de Bois-Préau, 92852 Rueil-Malmaison Cedex, France
* Corresponding author: virgile.rouchon@ifpen.fr
Received:
15
January
2024
Accepted:
25
June
2024
Boehmite (AlOOH) is considered as an important precursor for γ-Al2O3, which when calcinated undergoes topotactic transformation to form the latter. Alumina has extensive applications in fields such as catalysis, abrasives, and cosmetics among others. Boehmite falls under the category of hierarchical structures whose structural and textural properties are a result of its compositional and porous hierarchy. Although research has been carried out extensively to understand the complete representation of its structure, a true morphological model is an important key to understanding and fully explaining its transport properties during catalytic processes. 3D electron microscopy helps us to dive deeper into the different hierarchical entities of boehmite, bridging the gaps between the models and assumptions made using some more traditional characterization techniques. We present here a deep insight into the structural and morphological parameters of several commercial boehmites using 3D transmission electron microscopy. Through the extraction of quantitative descriptors pertaining to hierarchical entities and subsequent comparison with bulk analyses, precise and comprehensive information regarding these microstructures can be obtained. The results of our study indicate that boehmite grades, which appear to be identical in terms of their grades, display discrepancies in the uniformity of particle sizes. Moreover, diverse platelet interactions result in varying types of pores in these grades. Furthermore, it has been observed that the interfacial interactions among various crystallographic planes exhibit variations across different specimens, thereby contributing to the distinctive compositions within the aggregates. The variation in aggregates of different boehmite grades is also reflected in the combination of four distinct quantified morphologies.
Key words: Boehmite / Nanocrystal / Electron tomography / Particle size distribution / Crystal morphology / Aggregation
© The Author(s), published by EDP Sciences, 2024
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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