Synthesis and Al K-Edge Xanes Investigation of Mesostructured Aluminophosphates

We report on the synthesis of lamellar mesostructured aluminophosphate composites which contain variable relative amounts of aluminium oxide species in the core regions of the lamellae; this is investigated quantitatively by Al K-edge XANES spectroscopy. Templating is achieved by the utilisation of monododecyl phosphate surfactant. If no phosphorous source (such as H3PO4) is used for the synthesis, the phosphate head groups of the surfactant become incorporated into the inorganic network to form similar lamellar aluminophosphate structures. Thus, the surfactant serves as both template and reactant.