High field 27Al MAS NMR and TPD studies of active sites in ethanol dehydration using thermally treated transitional aluminas as catalysts
High field quantitative 27Al MAS NMR and temperature programmed desorption (TPD) of ethanol are used to study the surface and phase transformation of gamma-Al2O3 during calcination in the temperature range of 500 to 1300 degrees C. Following ethanol adsorption, ethylene is generated during TPD with a desorption temperature > 200 degrees C. With increasing calcination temperature prior to TPD, the amount of ethylene produced decreases monotonically. Significantly, 27Al MAS NMR reveals that the amount of penta-coordinate Al3+ ions (Lewis acid sites) also decreases with increasing calcination temperature. In fact, a strong correlation between the amount of penta-coordinate Al3+ ions and the amount of strongly adsorbed ethanol molecules (i.e., the ones that convert to ethylene during TPD) is obtained. This result indicates that the penta-coordinate aluminum sites are the catalytic active sites on alumina surfaces during ethanol dehydration reaction across the entire course of gamma- to alpha-Al2O3 phase transformations.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US), Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1253844
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-106119; 47841; KC0302010
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Catalysis, Journal Name: Journal of Catalysis Vol. 336; ISSN 0021-9517
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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