(582aj) Positive Synergy in Bimetallic Wzr Mesoporous Silicates for Ethanol Conversion Reactions

We previously reported that metal-incorporated mesoporous silicates (Zr-KIT-6, W-KIT-6 and Nb-KIT-6¹) are active in catalyzing ethanol conversion. While Zr-KIT-6 materials are highly selective for olefin production, they are much less active than catalysts that exhibit stronger Brønsted acidity, such as H-ZSM-5.² Therefore, we explored bimetallic metal-incorporated silicates by simultaneously incorporating W and Zr into the KIT-6 framework to better tune the activity of the hybrid catalyst (denoted as W/Zr-KIT-6). Through systematic studies with various W and Zr loadings, we discovered that the dehydration activity of the W/Zr-KIT-6 catalysts exceeded that of either Zr-KIT-6 or W-KIT-6 monometallic catalysts. The performance of WZr/KIT-6 and other bimetallic catalyst formulations along with detailed catalyst characterization will be presented.

1. Zhu H, Ramanathan A, Wu J-F, Chaudhari RV, Subramaniam B. Effects of tunable acidity and basicity of Nb-KIT-6 catalysts on ethanol conversion: Experiments and kinetic modeling. AIChE Journal. 2017.
2. Nash CP, Ramanathan A, Ruddy DA, et al. Mixed alcohol dehydration over Brønsted and Lewis acidic catalysts. Applied Catalysis A: General. January 25, 2016 2016;510:110-124.