Influence of aluminium sources on the synthesis and catalytic activity of mesoporous AlMCM-41 molecular sieves

Abstract

Mesoporous AlMCM-41 molecular sieves were synthesized using various aluminium sources, viz., sodium aluminate, aluminium sulphate, aluminium isopropoxide and pseudoboehmite. The influence of different aluminium sources on the framework substitution of aluminium as well as on the catalytic properties of t-butylation of phenol was studied. Among the aluminium sources, the use of sodium aluminate for the AlMCM-41 synthesis showed maximum incorporation of aluminium in the framework. Further, the catalyst also showed good catalytic activity for the chosen reaction.