S. Komeili - Chemical Engineering Department, Iran University of Science and Technology
M. Takht Ravanchi - National Petrochemical Company, Petrochemical Research and Technology Company
A. Taeb - Chemical Engineering Department, Iran University of Science and Technolog

A series of MAl۲O۴ (M=Ni, Zn, and Cu) aluminates were prepared by using impregnation method; the metal content of the products was ranged between ۵wt% to ۲۵wt%. The samples were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) surface area, NH۳ temperature-programmed desorption (NH۳-TPD), and inductively coupled argon plasma (ICP). The specific surface areas of zinc, nickel and copper aluminates were in the ranges of ۴۷-۷۷m۲/g, ۶۳-۸۷m۲/g and ۱.۶-۳m۲/g, respectively. The surface acidity decreased in the order of CuAl۲O۴<< NiAl۲O۴< ZnAl۲O۴<< Al۲O۳. By increasing the amount of metals in the samples, the number of acidic sites decreased, but their strength did not significantly change. Ni-aluminates have fewer acidic sites than Zn-aluminates, particularly in strong acid sites

Aluminate, Impregnation, Acidity, Catalyst Support