than about 30 u00b0 f to this aqueous solution was added 1 000 grams of ethylene oxide during this addition the solution was maintained at a temperature below about 35 u00b0 f the resulting alumina gel reaction product was permitted to age for four days thereafter the gel was filtered to remove about 335 cubic centimeters of liquid by product the remaining gel was then washed with isopropanol and dried in air at 250 u00b0 f a portion of the alumina product was then heated to 1 000 u00b0 f and another portion after heating to 400 u00b0 f in nitrogen was contacted with a mixture of one volume percent chlorine in air while being heated to from about 400 u00b0 f to 950 u00b0 f after reaching the temperature of 950 u00b0 f the alumina was held at this temperature for one hour sufficient airchlorine reagent was employed to assure the presence of excess chlorine the bet surface area of the chlorinetreated alumina was 502 square meters per gram in contrast the bet surface area of the untreated calcined alumina was only 319 square meters per gram alumina b was prepared following the general procedure of example 1 except that the crude alumina gel was permitted to age for 6 days prior to washing and drying a portion of the resulting washed alumina.