Hierarchically Porous Zirconia Monolith Fabricated from Bacterial Cellulose and Preceramic Polymer

[Image: see text] A hierarchically porous zirconia (ZrO(2)) monolith was successfully fabricated by using bacterial cellulose (BC) as a biotemplate and preceramic polymer as a zirconium resource, via freeze-drying and two-step calcination process. Images of scanning electron microscopy showed that the ZrO(2) monolith well-replicated a three-dimensional reticulated structure of pristine BC and possessed good morphology stability till 1100 °C in air. Results of N(2) adsorption/desorption and mercury porosimetry analysis revealed the hierarchically porous structure and large specific area (9.7 m(2)·g(–1)) of the ZrO(2) monolith, respectively. Patterns of X-ray powder diffraction indicated that the monoclinic phase and tetragonal phase coexisted in the ZrO(2) monolith with the former as the main phase. In addition, the ZrO(2) monolith possessed low bulk density (0.13 g·cm(–3)) and good mechanical strength. These properties suggest that the as-prepared ZrO(2) monolith has a great potential to serve as an ideal catalyst or catalyst support.