TY - JOUR
T1 - Magnetically-separable Fe3O4@SiO2@SO4-ZrO2 core-shell nanoparticle catalysts for propanoic acid esterification
AU - Tai, Zhijun
AU - Isaacs, Mark
AU - Durndell, Lee
AU - Parlett, Christopher
AU - Lee, Adam
AU - Wilson, Karen
N1 - © 2018, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
PY - 2018/4
Y1 - 2018/4
N2 - Monodispersed, sulfated zirconia encapsulated magnetite nanoparticles were synthesized as magnetically-separable solid acid catalysts. Catalyst nanoparticles are prepared via coating preformed 80 nm Fe2O3 particles with a 15 nm SiO2 protective coating prior to growth of a uniform 28 nm ZrO2 shell. The thickness of the ZrO2 shell in resulting Fe3O4@SiO2@ZrO2 nanoparticles was controlled by adjusting the zirconium butoxide to Lutensol AO5 ratio, with 1:10 found as the optimal ratio to produce monodispersed ZrO2 coated nano-spheres. Sulfation using an ammonium sulfate precursor is less corrosive towards the core-shell structure of Fe3O4@SiO2@ZrO2 nanoparticles leading to superior sulfated materials compared to those obtained using H2SO4. Resulting Fe3O4@SiO2@SO4-ZrO2 solid acid catalysts exhibit high activity for propanoic acid esterification with methanol, far exceeding that of conventional sulfated zirconia nanoparticles, while being amenable to facile magnetic separation.
AB - Monodispersed, sulfated zirconia encapsulated magnetite nanoparticles were synthesized as magnetically-separable solid acid catalysts. Catalyst nanoparticles are prepared via coating preformed 80 nm Fe2O3 particles with a 15 nm SiO2 protective coating prior to growth of a uniform 28 nm ZrO2 shell. The thickness of the ZrO2 shell in resulting Fe3O4@SiO2@ZrO2 nanoparticles was controlled by adjusting the zirconium butoxide to Lutensol AO5 ratio, with 1:10 found as the optimal ratio to produce monodispersed ZrO2 coated nano-spheres. Sulfation using an ammonium sulfate precursor is less corrosive towards the core-shell structure of Fe3O4@SiO2@ZrO2 nanoparticles leading to superior sulfated materials compared to those obtained using H2SO4. Resulting Fe3O4@SiO2@SO4-ZrO2 solid acid catalysts exhibit high activity for propanoic acid esterification with methanol, far exceeding that of conventional sulfated zirconia nanoparticles, while being amenable to facile magnetic separation.
UR - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468823118300828
U2 - 10.1016/j.mcat.2018.02.021
DO - 10.1016/j.mcat.2018.02.021
M3 - Article
SN - 2468-8231
VL - 449
SP - 137
EP - 141
JO - Molecular Catalysis
JF - Molecular Catalysis
ER -