Synthesis, characterization and catalytic performances of S₂O₈ ²⁻/Al-x wt%Ce–Zn–O solid acid catalysts

Abstract

New types of S₂O₈ ²⁻/Al-x wt%Ce–Zn–O solid acid catalysts were prepared by the sol–gel method. Their catalytic performances for the synthesis of n-butyl acetate from acetic acid and n-butanol were investigated. The characterization of prepared catalysts was performed using XRD, IR, TG-DSC and SEM. The experimental results showed that the S₂O₈ ²⁻/Al-2.5 wt%Ce–Zn–O solid acid catalyst exhibited an optimal esterification performance with 98.71% esterification efficiency under the optimum synthesis conditions. Moreover, the S₂O₈ ²⁻/Al-2.5 wt%Ce–Zn–O solid acid catalyst retained its high activity with above 95% esterification efficiency after being used repeatedly for seven times, which indicated that the S₂O₈ ²⁻/Al-2.5 wt%Ce–Zn–O solid acid catalyst had excellent stability.