| Preparation of millimeter-sized spherical porous ZrO2 supports via chitosan gelation and evaluation of their resultant properties |
Maria Dolores Sosa Lucio1,2, Eun-Ji Oh1,4, Jang-Hoon Ha1
, Jongman Lee1,2, Hong-Joo Lee1, Seung Hwa Jung3, Jun Young Shin3, In-Hyuck Song1,2, Sang-Chae Jeon4 |
1Nano Materials Research Division, Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS), 797 Changwon-daero, Seongsan-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, 51508, Republic of Korea
2Department of Advanced Materials Engineering, University of Science and Technology (UST), 217 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34113, Republic of Korea
3R&D Center, Cenotec Co., LTD, 1256-40, Hamma-dearo, Gaya-eup, Haman-gun, Gyeongsangnam-Do, 52035, Republic of Korea
4School of Materials Science and Engineering, Department of Materials Convergence and System, Changwon National University, Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do, 51140, Republic of Korea |
|
|
|
Received: October 23, 2024; Revised: February 5, 2025 Accepted: February 23, 2025. Published online: March 12, 2025. |
|
|
|
| ABSTRACT |
|
The processing of millimeter-sized spherical porous ceramic supports, based on encapsulating a solid network within a gelled biopolymer-derived patterning structure, results in particularly interesting advantages. Primarily, it enables the consolidation of ceramic material into a structurally stable body that facilitates handling, separation and cleanliness during application while also enhancing the support’s properties and overall performance. This study focused on the preparation of millimeter-sized spherical porous ZrO2 supports, using ZrO2 powder as the solid network material due to its acid/basic character, thermal stability, and superior chemical stability. Gelled chitosan was employed as the patterning structure, with gelation achieved via a simple pH-triggered process in basic conditions. This approach enabled the fabrication of porous ceramic supports with high sphericity (~ 0.9), optimized solid content (enhancing structural stability), and hierarchical meso/macro porosity, general characteristics preferable for catalytic supports. These features are comparable to those of materials produced using conventional liquid phase-based granulation techniques, which require complex parameter control (e.g., additive content, cooling, and reflux of the feeding broth, and concentration, and temperature of the gelling bath) due to the nature of the processing and the use of precursor-derived solid networks. Thus, the chitosan gelation approach facilitates the granulation process while preserving comparable essential material features. Furthermore, the chitosan gelation mechanism likely minimizes the presence of alkaline and alkaline earth metal by-products within the solid network, which are commonly formed when using alternative biopolymers gelled via ionic cross-linking (e.g., sodium alginate). These by-products can negatively impact catalyst performance by affecting operating temperatures, active sites, and pore accessibility, making gelled chitosan a superior alternative for patterning millimeter-sized spherical porous ceramic supports. |
| Key words:
ZrO2 granules · Chitosan · Gelation · Sphericity · Porosity · Compressive strength |
|
PDF Links 
Full text via DOI
Download Citation 
