Abstract: Aluminum alkoxide hydrolysis is one of the main methods for preparing high purity aluminum hydroxide. Aluminum hydroxide was prepared from n-pentanol aluminum alkoxide by hydrolysis and the effect of the process parameters (hydrolysis temperature, hydrolysis time, molar ratio of water to aluminum alkoxide, aging temperature and time) on the crystalline size, surface area and pore volume of aluminum hydroxide was investigated by orthogonal experiment. The mechanism of the process was discussed. The results show that aging temperature is the most important factor affecting aluminum hydroxide crystalline size and specific surface area; hydrolysis temperature is the most important factor affecting the pore volume and also has a significant effect on the specific surface area and crystalline size. It is considered that the aging process can promote the growth of crystallite, and the hydrolysis temperatures determine the crystalline phase of aluminum hydroxide.

Key words: aluminum alkoxide, hydrolysis, aluminum hydroxide, orthogonal experiment