A particular bird's nest-like pseudo-boehmite (PB) composed of cohesive nanostrips was prepared by a novel and facile approach based on the reaction of Al-Ga-In-Sn alloy and water, together with ammonium carbonate. The PB possesses a large specific surface area (465.2 m2/g), pore volume (1.0 cm3/g), and pore diameter (8.7 nm). Subsequently, it was utilized as a precursor to form the TiO2/γ-Al2O3 nanocomposite for tetracycline hydrochloride removal. The removal efficiency can reach above 90% at TiO2:PB=1:1.5 under the sunlight irradiation simulated by a LED lamp. Our results indicate that the nest-like PB is a promising carrier precursor for efficient nanocomposite catalysts.
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