Zirconia-stabilized 25-Å TiO2 anatase crystallites in a mesoporous structure

We have prepared and characterized a mesoporous material where the framework, of both the as-synthesized and calcined materials, is composed of ZrO2-doped 25-Angstrom TiO2 anatase crystallites. The nanocrystalline framework is structured about a surfactant-templated, disordered porous network with a uniform pore diameter of 28 Angstrom. Air calcination at 450 degrees C removes the surfactant to yield a mesoporous solid with surface area of 330 m(2)/g. The mesoporous framework and TiO2 crystallite size are surprisingly robust, and we observed no substantial structural differences between precalcined and calcined products.