Morphology Controlled Synthesis of γ-Al2O3 Nano-Crystallites in Al@Al2O3 Core–Shell Micro-Architectures by Interfacial Hydrothermal Reactions of Al Metal Substrates

Fine control of morphology and exposed crystal facets of porous γ-Al2O3 is of significant importance in many application areas such as functional nanomaterials and heterogeneous catalysts. Herein, a morphology controlled in situ synthesis of Al@Al2O3 core–shell architecture consisting of an Al metal core and a porous γ-Al2O3 shell is explored based on interfacial hydrothermal reactions of an Al metal substrate in aqueous solutions of inorganic anions. It was found that the morphology and structure of boehmite (γ-AlOOH) nano-crystallites grown at the Al-metal/solution interface exhibit significant dependence on temperature, type of inorganic anions (Cl−, NO3−, and SO42−), and acid–base environment of the synthesis solution. Different extents of the electrostatic interactions between the protonated hydroxyl groups on (010) and (001) facets of γ-AlOOH and the inorganic anions (Cl−, NO3−, SO42−) appear to result in the preferential growth of γ-AlOOH toward specific crystallographic directions due to the selective capping of the facets by adsorption of the anions. It is hypothesized that the unique Al@Al2O3 core–shell architecture with controlled morphology and exposed crystal-facets of the γ-Al2O3 shell can provide significant intrinsic catalytic properties with enhanced heat and mass transport to heterogeneous catalysts for applications in many thermochemical reaction processes. The direct fabrication of γ-Al2O3 nano-crystallites from Al metal substrate with in-situ modulation of their morphologies and structures into 1D, 2D, and 3D nano-architectures explored in this work is unique and can offer significant opportunities over the conventional methods.