Effect of Silica Content on Production of p-Xylene
Lee et al.
composition of these materials can be changed to control
their acidity.
The final Si/Al ratios of the catalysts used were deter-
mined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission
spectrometry (ICP-AES, Spectro Ciros Vision).
In particular, the effect of SiO content on the physic-
2
ochemical properties of the SA catalysts and their cat-
alytic performance for the selective production of p-xylene
from dimethylfuran/ethylene through the combination of
cycloaddition and dehydrative aromatization reactions
were investigated, and a comparison with the catalytic
2.3. Test of Catalyst Activity
The reactions to produce p-xylene from 2,5-dimethylfuran
and ethylene were conducted in a 250 mL autoclave
6–8
equipped with an impeller. The reactor was loaded with
ability of commercial SiO –Al O and ZSM-5 zeolites
2
2
3
0.2 g of catalyst for 12.5 mL of 2,5-dimethylfuran and
37.5 mL of n-heptane, and constantly maintained at a tem-
perature of 523 K using a PID controller. A leak test of
the reaction vessel using nitrogen was firstly performed.
Then, the reaction vessel was purged three times with
ethylene gas (C H ꢄ and stirred at 500 rpm while heating
(
Si/Al = 30, Si/Al = 80) for this reaction was also
2
2
carried out.
2
. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
2
4
2
.1. Catalyst Preparation
to the reaction conditions. Once the reaction temperature
was achieved, the vessel was pressurized to 50 bar with
ethylene gas, which was continuously added during the
reaction using a C H MFC (20 mL/min). The liquid sam-
A series of SA catalysts with different SiO contents, such
2
as SA-20 (SiO = 83ꢃ6 wt%), SA-40 (SiO = 67ꢃ5 wt%),
2
2
SA-60 (SiO = 52ꢃ3 wt%), SA-70 (SiO = 40ꢃ9 wt%),
2
2
2
4
and SA-80 (SiO = 28ꢃ6 wt%), were prepared by a
2
ple was collected immediately from a sampling port. The
products were identified and quantified, comparing their
retention times with those of pure standards, using a gas
chromatograph (GC, Acme-6100, Young Lin Instrument
Co.) equipped with a flame ionization detector (FID) and
a capillary HP-INNOWAX column (0.32 mm id×0.5 ꢇm
thickness×60 m length). The conversion of DMF, as well
as the selectivities and yields of the products were calcu-
1
2ꢀ13
co-precipitation method.
Alumina precursor (12 g;
AlCl · 6H O, Fluka) was dissolved in 600 mL of distil-
3
2
8ꢀ9
lated water, and the pH of the solution was adjusted to 8
by adding ammonia solution. After maintaining the alu-
mina precursor solution at 328 K for 1 h, an appropriate
amount of silica precursor (Si(OC H ꢄ , Sigma-Aldrich)
2
5 4
was slowly added. The amount of H O in the mother
2
liquor was adjusted such that the H O/Si(OC H ꢄ ratio
2
2
5
4
6–10
lated as described in previous papers.
was 18. The precipitates were dried at 333 K under vac-
IP: 79.133.106.107 On: Fri, 11 Jan 2019 00:34:51
uum for 4 h and then dried at 393 KC oo pv ye rr ing i hg ht :t .A Am l el rt ihc ea n Scientific Publishers
supports were calcined in air at 773 K for 3 h. FD o er li cv oe mr e-d by3I n. g Re En t Sa ULTS AND DISCUSSION
parison, commercial SiO –Al O (SIRAL 1, SIRAL 10 of
3.1. Characterization of Catalysts
2
2
3
SASOL product) and commercial ZSM-5 zeolites (CBV
024E (Si/Al = 30), CBV 8014 (Si/Al = 80) of Zeolyst
Figure 1 shows the powder XRD patterns (a) and NH3-
TPD profiles of SA catalysts (b), and SEM images of
ZSM-5 (c), SA-60 catalysts of the prepared SA catalysts.
The XRD data prove that all of the SA catalysts are amor-
phous with very weak and broad XRD peaks indicating
domains of pure silica and alumina. Each catalyst shows
3
2
2
product) were purchased.
2
.2. Characterization of Catalysts
To confirm the structure of the prepared SA catalysts,
powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns were recorded
on a Rigaku Multiplex instrument operating at 30 kV
and 40 mA (1.6 kW) using Cu-Kꢅ radiation (ꢆ =
ꢀ
a broad maximum peak, centered at 2ꢈ = 22 , attributable
to silica. The intensity of this peak decreased with the
decrease in Si content, and the intensities were in the fol-
lowing order: SA-20 > SA-40 > SA-60 > SA-70 > SA-80.
Information about the physical properties of the cata-
lysts can be found in Table I and Figure 2, which show
the BET surface area (SBETꢄ and pore size distribution, as
well as the nitrogen adsorption isotherms of the SA cata-
lysts, the commercial SiO –Al O (SIRAL 1, SIRAL 10),
0
ꢃ154 nm). Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) images
were obtained with a Hitachi S-4800 microscope oper-
ating at 2 kV. Nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms
were obtained at 77 K using a volumetric Micromeritics
Tristar II instrument. To remove water and organic com-
ponents on zeolites, samples were degassed at 573 K for
2
2
3
3
h before measurement. The specific surface area was cal-
and the commercial ZSM-5 zeolites (Si/Al = 30, Si/Al =
2
2
culated using the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) equation
80)) at 77 K. The Si/Al ratios of the catalysts used were
2
with adsorption points in the range of P/P = 0ꢃ05–0.2.
determined using ICP-AES based on elemental analysis.
As shown in Table I, we found that a decrease in the
SiO content of the SA and commercial SiO –Al O cat-
0
The surface acidity of the catalysts was measured by
loading 50 mg of the catalyst in a glass flow-through cell,
and carrying out the temperature-programmed desorption
2
2
2
3
alysts led to a decrease in their BET surface areas and an
increase in their average pore size. The same trend was
also obtained in the ZSM-5 catalyst when the SiO /Al O
of ammonia (NH -TPD) using a BEL-CAT TPD analyzer
3
with a TCD detector. Before NH adsorption, samples
3
2
2
3
were held at 773 K under flowing helium (50 mL/min) for
mol ratio was increased. Interestingly, the average pore
sizes of the SA catalysts were found to be larger than
1
h to remove adsorbed moisture.
2696
J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 17, 2695–2699, 2017