Particle size control and dependence on solution pH of carboxylate–alumoxane nanoparticles

A series of water dispersible carboxylate–alumoxane nanoparticles were prepared by the reaction of various carboxylic acids with the mineral boehmite. The acids used were: acetic (A–H), methoxyacetic (MA–H), methoxyethoxyacetic (MEA–H), methoxyethoxyethoxyacetic (MEEA–H), and lysine (L–H). For each of the derived carboxylate–alumoxanes, particle size measurements were obtained by means of photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS) as a function of solution pH. In all cases, at higher pHs, slight increases in solution basicity corresponded to large increases in particle size. At lower pHs, however, changes in solution basicity yielded only slight to moderate increases in particle size. It was also found during these investigations that methoxyacetic–alumoxane (MA–A) had a large buffering capacity, and that this effect could be explained by correlation with the aluminum:carboxylate group ratio for the various carboxylate–alumoxanes.