Solubility of Ba-acetate in mixed alcoholic solutions and its bearing on the synthesis of multi-component gels

The solubility of Ba-acetate in mixtures of alcohol (ethanol, n-propanol and iso-propanol) and H2O or acetic acid (CH3COOH) have been determined. In the ROH-H2O-Ba(OOCCH3)(2) system a small region of miscibility was found. To a saturated solution of 4.8 mol% Ba(OOCCH3)(2) in H2O for each additional mol H2O, 0.9 mol iso-propanol or 1.1 mol ethanol can be added without precipitation of Ba(OOCCH3)(2). The solubility in alcohol/acetic acid mixtures is higher. For each mol CH3COOH, 2.2 mol iso-propanol, 3.2 mol n-propanol or 4.1 mol ethanol can be added without precipitation of Ba(OOCCH3)(2). The results were applied to develop a procedure for the synthesis of gels in the system BaO-Al2O3-SiO2 from metal alkoxides and Ba-acetate. Acetic acid reacts with Al-sec-butoxide to give Al(O-sec-C4H9)(3-x)(CH3COO)(x). Therefore, the solution of Ba-acetate was controlled only over the H2O/alcohol ratio.