Synthesis of continuous mesoporous alumina films with large-sized cage-type mesopores by using diblock copolymers.

Mesoporous alumina films with large-sized cage-type mesopores were prepared by using commercially available diblock copolymer (PS-b-PEO) and economic inorganic salt (AlCl(3)) as aluminum source. The obtained mesopore sizes drastically expand from 35 nm to 80 nm when the amount of ethanol in the precursor solutions were controlled. More interestingly, under an optimized amount of ethanol as co-solvent, there was no significant change of micelle morphology on the substrate, even though the relative amount of PS-b-PEO to alumina source was dramatically varied. When the amount of alumina precursor was decreased, the pore walls gradually became thinner, thereby improving pore connectivity. The ordered mesoporous alumina films obtained in this study exhibit high thermal stability up to 1000 °C, and their frameworks are successfully crystallized to γ-alumina phase. This technique could also be applicable for creating other metal oxide thin films with large mesopores.