Hydrothermal Synthesis of Nanostructure Mayenite Calcium Aluminate and Forming as a Support of Catalyst

Mayenite (Ca۱۲Al۱۴O۳۳, C۱۲A۷) is a promising catalyst support due to its unique structural and electronic properties. However, conventional synthesis routes yield a low specific surface area, limiting access to active sites and reducing catalytic efficiency. In this work, we synthesized nanostructured mayenite via a hydrothermal method and subsequently shaped it into porous tablets using polyvinyl alcohol (۱۰ wt%) and graphite (۱ wt%) as pore formers, followed by pressing and calcination at ۶۰۰ °C. The hydrothermally prepared powder initially showed a surface area of only ۶.۷۲ m۲/g. After the shaping and calcination process, the surface area increased to approximately ۲۲ m۲/g, as confirmed by XRD, BET, and FESEM. Unlike conventional approaches, where sintering during forming reduces surface area, our method relies on in-situ porosity generation during the shaping step. This integrated approach provides a practical, scalable route to produce nanostructured, porous mayenite suitable for high-temperature catalytic applications such as Fischer–Tropsch synthesis.

Keywords:

Mayenite (C۱۲A۷) , Nanostructured , In situ porosity generation , Catalyst support