The present work proposes a new preparation route of nanoparticles to be used in the ceramic industry. This new route, known as proteic sol-gel, usually employs green coconut water to dissolve the precursor salts, instead of conventional metal alcoxides. However there are no reports about the employment of water from mature coconut in the preparation of nanoparticles, which is usually disposed in the coconut processing industry. Al2O3 nanoparticles were produced via proteic sol-gel route using mature coconut water and were characterized through DTA/TG and XRD measurements and SEM and AFM images. The γ-Al2O3 phase was obtained after calcination at 700 °C, and was stable even after calcination at 1200 °C. An increase in particle size while the temperature of calcination was raised was observed, and the particle size was about 400 nm in sample treated at 1200 °C.
nanoparticles; Al2O3; proteic
