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Effect of ZrO2 on the catalytic performance of nano
c-Al2O3 in dehydration of methanol to dimethyl ether
at relatively low temperature

Research Authors
Abd El-Aziz A. Said, Mohamed M. M. Abd El-Wahab, Mohamed Abd El-Aal
Research Abstract

A series of ZrO2/c-Al2O3 catalysts were prepared by incipient wetness
impregnation of zirconyl nitrate hydrate aqueous solutions on nano-c-Al2O3 with
ZrO2 loadings (1–30 % w/w) and calcined at 450 and 550 C for 3 h in a static air
atmosphere. Physicochemical properties of the catalysts were determined using TG,
DTA, XRD, FT-IR, Raman spectroscopy, TEM, and N2 sorption measurements.
The surface acidity of the catalysts was investigated by dehydration of isopropanol
and adsorption of pyridine, 2,6-dimethyl pyridine and TPD–pyridine. This series of
catalysts was used for vapor-phase dehydration of methanol to dimethyl ether in a
fixed bed reactor. It was found that all catalysts in this study were active and
selective for DME synthesis. According to the experimental results, 1 % ZA catalyst
exhibited the highest activity with selectivity of 100 % toward DME.

Research Department
Research Journal
Research on Chemical Intermediates
Research Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Research Rank
1
Research Vol
42 (2)
Research Website
NULL
Research Year
2016
Research Pages
1537-1556