Evolution of textural characteristics of surfactant‑mediated mesoporous zirconia aerogel powders prepared via ambient pressure drying route

The experimental results in this work represent the preparation of ambient pressure dried zirconia aerogels using surfactant and their textural characteristics studies. Zirconia aerogel powders were prepared by sol–gel process employing Brij-76 as a surfactant. The infuence of varying concentrations of Brij-76 (0.01–0.1 M) on the textural characteristics of zirconia powders was studied. During synthesis, the molar ratio of Zirconium n-propoxide: n-Propanol: Acetic acid: H2O was kept fx to 1:16.8:2.7:8.7. The structural and morphological observations of these powders were performed through X-ray diffraction analysis and feld emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The surface area and average pore diameter of the synthesized powders were estimated using N2 adsorption–desorption analysis. Zirconia powders obtained using Brij-76 (0.01 M) without any heat treatment exhibited the amorphous nature with a well-ordered mesoporous morphology, specifc surface area, and average pore of nearly 177 m2 /g and 60 Å, respectively.