Mesoporous zirconia was synthesized by a new and simple method. Zirconium n-propoxide was used as the zirconium source. A small

inexpensive nonsurfactant

triethanolamine

was used as the template. The template was removed by thermal treatment in air and supercritical fluid extraction using CO

2

. The structure of the resulting materials was characterized by X-ray diffraction

transmission electron microscopy

and N

2

adsorption-desorption analyses. The materials are found to have narrowly distributed average pore diameters and wormhole-like pore channels. However

higher surface area and larger pore volume are exhibited after supercritical fluid extraction with CO

2

. The removal of the template by thermal treatment also leads to condensation and mild shrinkage of the zirconia framework.