Fabrication of Aluminiferous Nanofibers by a Simple Hydrolysis Process of Nano-sized Al/AlN Powder

Nano-sized Al/AlN powder was immersed in deionized water to investigate its hydrolysis behavior from 40 degrees C to 80 degrees C. The Al/AlN powder hydrolysis behavior was observed by measuring the pH of the suspension, whereas XRD and TEM analyses were employed for the characterization of the hydrolytic products. The hydrolysis at the higher temperature was different from that at the lower temperature. The nano fibrous crystalline boehmite was formed mainly over 80 degrees C, while the bayerite (Al(OH(3))) coexisted with the boehmite predominantly below 70 degrees C. The hydrolytic product showed the higher specific surface area at 70 degrees C than that of the hydrolytic product at other temperatures. The highest specific surface area of hydrolytic product was 145.84m(2)/g. The addition of salicylate to the reaction solution at 80 degrees C promoted the growth of aluminum hydroxide whiskers. As a result, the specific surface area of the boehmite increased from 136.68m(2)/g without salicylate to 230.11 m(2)/g with the addition of salicylate.