A new template for the synthesis of porous inorganic oxide monoliths

A hydrophilic monolith, urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin, was for the first time proposed as a hard template for the synthesis of inorganic monoliths. Three kinds of inorganics, silica, zirconia and titania, were successfully prepared by using the new template. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), nitrogen sorption measurements indicate that the inorganics are the replicas of their templates. Due to the characteristics of low cost, facile control of structure and ease of removal, the UF resin facilitates mass production of inorganic monoliths, which are attractive to industry. In addition, the hydrophilic characteristic of the UF resin makes it possible to use organic free precursors for preparing inorganic monoliths, which should be benign to the environment. The successful synthesis of the zirconia monolith using non-organic precursors confirms this.