Abstract
Temperature programmed desorption (TPD) of ethanol, as well as ethanol and methanol dehydration reactions were studied on γ-Al2O3 in order to identify the active catalytic sites for alcohol dehydration reactions. Two high temperature (>473 K) desorption features were observed following ethanol adsorption. Samples calcined at T ≤ 473 K displayed a desorption feature in the 523–533 K temperature range, while those calcined at T ≥ 673 K showed a single desorption feature at 498 K. These two high temperature desorption features correspond to the exclusive formation of ethylene on the Lewis (498 K) and Brønsted acidic (~525 K) sites. The amount of ethylene formed under conditions where the competition between water and ethanol for adsorption sites is minimized is identical over the two surfaces. Furthermore, a nearly 1-to-1 correlation between the number of under-coordinated Al3+ ions on the (100) facets of γ-Al2O3 and the number of ethylene molecules formed in the ethanol TPD experiments on samples calcined at T ≥ 673 K was found. Titration of the penta-coordinate Al3+ sites on the (100) facets of γ-Al2O3 by BaO completely eliminated the methanol dehydration reaction activity. These results demonstrate that in alcohol dehydration reactions on γ-Al2O3, the (100) facets are the active catalytic surfaces. The observed activities can be linked to the same Al3+ ions on both hydrated and dehydrated surfaces: penta-coordinate Al3+ ions (Lewis acid sites), and their corresponding –OH groups (Brønsted acid sites), depending on the calcination temperature.
Graphical Abstract
Temperature-programmed desorption of ethanol, as well as steady state dehydration reactions of ethanol and methanol, indicate that the (100) facets are the primary active surfaces of γ-Al2O3. The active centers on both the hydroxylated and dehydroxylated (100) facets are related to the coordinatively unsaturated Al3+ ions
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Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge the US Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Chemical Sciences for the support of this work. The research described in this paper was performed at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), a national scientific user facility sponsored by the DOE Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL is operated for the US DOE by Battelle Memorial Institute under contract number DE-AC05-76RL01830.
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Kwak, J.H., Mei, D., Peden, C.H.F. et al. (100) facets of γ-Al2O3: The Active Surfaces for Alcohol Dehydration Reactions. Catal Lett 141, 649–655 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10562-010-0496-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10562-010-0496-8