Abstract:
Aluminas with increased surface acidity, methods of making the same, and methods for using the same are provided. In an exemplary embodiment, a method for increasing the surface acidity of an alumina material includes providing an alumina starting material, and processing the alumina starting material under hydrothermal conditions in the presence of one or more organic acids to generate a hydrothermally treated alumina. In this embodiment, the one or more organic acids includes a polyprotic organic acid with a pKa value of about 0 to about 10, and the resulting hydrothermally treated alumina has increased surface acidity relative to the alumina starting material.