Synthesis of amorphous supermicroporous zirconium phosphate materials by nonionic surfactant templating

Supermicroporous zirconium phosphate materials possessing wormhole-like pores in the size range 1.3-1.8 nm were synthesized by using nonionic poly(ethylene oxide) surfactant (e.g., C₁₆H₃₃(EO)₁₀, C₁₈H₃₅(EO)₁₀) as a structure directing agent. The textural and structural properties were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, N₂ adsorption analysis, differential thermal analysis, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, ³¹P MAS NMR and infrared spectroscopy. The synthesized materials are amorphous, exhibiting high surface areas, narrow pore size distributions, excellent thermal stabilities (over 800 °C) and acidic properties. The supermicropore size of the synthesized zirconium phosphate may be tunable by the variation of alkyl chain length of the surfactant.