Herein, a detailed analysis was carried out using high-field (19.9 T) 27Al magic-angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) on three specially prepared aluminum oxide samples where the γ-, δ-, and θ-Al2O3 phases are dominantly expressed through careful control of the synthesis conditions. Specifically, two-dimensional (2D) multiquantum (MQ) MAS 27Al was used to obtain high spectral resolution, which provided a guide for analyzing quantitative 1D 27Al NMR spectra. Six aluminum sites were resolved in the 2D MQ MAS NMR spectra, and seven aluminum sites were required to fit the 1D spectra. A set of octahedral and tetrahedral peaks with well-defined quadrupolar line shapes was observed in the θ-phase dominant sample and was unambiguously assigned to the θ-Al2O3 phase. The distinct line shapes related to the θ-Al2O3 phase provided an opportunity for effectively deconvoluting the more complex spectrum obtained from the δ-Al2O3 dominant sample, allowing the peaks/quadrupolar parameters related to the δ-Al2O3 phase to be extracted. The results show that the δ-Al2O3 phase contains three distinct AlO sites and three distinct AlT sites. This detailed Al site structural information offers a powerful way of analyzing the most complex γ-Al2O3 spectrum. It is found that the γ-Al2O3 phase consists of Al sites with local structures similar to those found in the δ-Al2O3 and θ-Al2O3 phases albeit with less ordering. Spin-lattice relaxation time measurement further confirms the disordering of the lattice. Collectively, this study uniquely assigns 27Al features in transition aluminas, offering a simplified method to quantify complex mixtures of aluminum sites in transition alumina samples.
© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.