Synthesis of Sustainable γ-Alumina Catalyst/Catalyst Support from Aluminum Can Waste: Study of the Influence of Reaction Temperature

The indiscriminate disposal of empty aluminum beverage cans poses a major environmental pollution problem. The last decade has witnessed coordinated research targeted at finding cost-effective and practical solutions to minimize and utilize solid waste, which has become a major global environmental concern. This research is focused on the use of readily available waste aluminum (Al) cans for the synthesis of gamma-alumina. This work aims to synthesize γ-alumina from scrap Al cans using the sol-gel method, as well as their characterization. This study further explores the impact of reaction temperature on alumina synthesis at a fixed aging time of a half day. Characterization of γ-alumina was performed via FTIR, XRD, BET, and SEM–EDX analyses. The experimental results revealed the possibility of γ-alumina synthesis from waste Al cans, which can serve as catalysts/supports for various processes. A reaction temperature of 70 °C was found to be optimal for alumina synthesis from Al waste, as evidenced by our FTIR and XRD results, whereas alumina at room temperature recorded the highest surface area, at around 139 m2/g. Also, the results show that all the alumina synthesized at 70 °C recorded the highest weight and atomic percentage, at 9%, 8%, 27%, and 22%.