High activity, templated mesoporous SO4/ZrO2/HMS catalysts with controlled acid site density for α-pinene isomerisation

Muriel A. Ecormier, Adam F. Lee, Karen Wilson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Highly active mesoporous SO4/ZrO2/HMS (hexagonal mesoroporous silica) solid acid catalysts with tuneable sulphated zirconia (SZ) content have been prepared for the liquid phase isomerisation of α-pinene. The mesoporous HMS framework is preserved during the grafting process as evidenced by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and porosimetry with all SO4/ZrO2/HMS materials possessing average pore-diameters ∼20 Å. XRD confirms the presence of a stabilized tetragonal phase of nanoparticulate ZrO2, with no evidence for zirconia phase separation or the formation of discrete crystallites, consistent with a uniform and highly dispersed SZ coating. The activity towards α-pinene isomerisation scales linearly with Zr loading, while the specific activities are an order of magnitude greater than attainable by conventional methodologies (∼1 versus 0.08 mol h−1 g Zr−1).
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)301-310
Number of pages10
JournalMicroporous and Mesoporous Materials
Volume80
Issue number1-3
Early online date5 Feb 2005
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2005

Keywords

  • green chemistry
  • solid acids
  • mesoporous materials
  • hexagonal mesoporous silica
  • sulphated zirconia
  • α-Pinene isomerisation
  • terpenes
  • SO4/ZrO2

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