First acidic macro-mesocellular aluminosilicate monolithic foams "SiAl(HIPE)" and their catalytic properties.

A new type of acidic macrocellular and mesoporous silica-alumina foam is obtained via a one pot alkaline sol-gel route coupled with a concentrated emulsion-based templating technique. The mixed oxide monolith exhibits high surface acidity, translating into excellent performance in the acid-catalyzed dehydration of bioethanol to ethene.