Sonochemical synthesis of mesoporous transition metal and rare earth oxides.

Straight-extended layered mesostructures based on transItion metal (Fe, Cr) and rare earth (Y, Ce, La, Sm, Er) oxides are synthesized by sonication for 3 h. After a longer period of sonication (6 h), hexagonal mesostructures based on Y- and Er-oxides are obtained. The surface areas of the Y-based hexagonal mesophases before and after extraction are 46.5, 256 m2/g, respectively. For Er-based hexagonal mesophases, the surface areas before and after extraction are 157 and 225 m2/g. The pore sizes after extraction are 5.0 and 2.2 nm for Y- and Er-based mesophases, respectively. Hexagonal mesostructures are also obtained for Zr-based material after sonication for 3 h and the hexagonal structure is still maintained after calcinations at 400 degrees C for 4 h, although the surface area is only 35 m2/g.