Insight into the Property Modification of Zr‐Incorporated Alumina Binary Mixed Oxides by XRD, TEM, XPS, TPD and IR

Abstract Al 2 O 3 is known to be the most stable aluminum oxide and shows a large variety of applications. Incorporating a second metal to alumina is regarded as an effective strategy to modify its pristine material property. In this work, the binary Zr X AlO Y (0 < X ≤ 1) mixed oxides synthesized by co‐precipitation method were studied by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), NH 3 temperature‐programmed desorption (NH 3 ‐TPD) and pyridine adsorbed infrared (IR). It was disclosed that Zr incorporation ( i. e ., Zr content) and calcination temperature would bring about significant modifications on the material property of Zr X AlO Y compounds, such as crystal structure, valence state, surface acidity etc . Among the series Zr X AlO Y mixed oxides investigated, the Zr 0.1 AlO Y solid calcined at 400 °C presented a highest reactive surface area and a strongest interaction between Zr 4+ cations and Al 3+ cations, located either in the homogeneously distributed Zr‐Al mixed oxide or at the ZrO 2 /Al 2 O 3 interface. Thus an optimal proportion of Lewis acid sites with strong strength was obtained on this compound, which could be beneficial to acid‐catalyzed reactions either as catalyst or support material.