Sol-Gel Preparation of Porous C12A7-Cl- Crystals

Present study provides an approach to produce porous crystal material of C12A7-Cl- (Ca12Al14O32Cl2) by sol-gel method. Reactants for the gel were Ca(NO3)(2)center dot 4H(2)O, Al(NO3)(3)center dot 9H(2)O, CaCl2, urea, and ethylene glycol. The mixture Solution was stirred for 2-3 h to form the sol, after thermal treatment at 350 degrees C, the formed gel was then sintered under flowing argon at 1000 degrees C. The prepared porous crystal material was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), themogravimetric analysis (TGA), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and ion chromatography (IC). Results indicated that the C12A7-Cl- material was Successfully prepared via sol-gel method and the Cl- anions were the dominant anions stored in the bulk of the material. The emission of Cl- anions from the C12A7-Cl- surface was detected by time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS). Our results show that the sol-gel method can be potentially useful in the development of C12A7-Cl- materials.