Characterizing Surface Acidic Sites in Mesoporous-Silica-Supported Tungsten Oxide Catalysts Using Solid State NMR and Quantum Chemistry Calculations
The acidic sites in dispersed tungsten oxide supported on SBA-15 mesoporous silica were investigated using a combination of pyridine titration, both fast-, and slow-MAS {sup 15}N NMR, static {sup 2}H NMR, and quantum chemistry calculations. It is found that the bridged acidic -OH groups in surface adsorbed tungsten dimers (i.e., W-OH-W) are the Broensted acid sites. The unusually strong acidity of these Broensted acid sites is confirmed by quantum chemistry calculations. In contrast, terminal W-OH sites are very stable and only weakly acidic as are terminal Si-OH sites. Furthermore, molecular interactions between pyridine molecules and the dimer Broensted and terminal W-OH sites for dispersed tungsten oxide species is strong. This results in restricted molecular motion for the interacting pyridine molecules even at room temperature, i.e., a reorientation mainly about the molecular 2-fold axis. This restricted reorientation makes it possible to estimate the relative ratio of the Broensted (tungsten dimer) to the weakly acidic terminal W-OH sites in the catalyst using the slow-MAS {sup 1}H-{sup 15}N CP PASS method.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab. (EMSL)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1030453
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-71974; 35599; KC0302010; TRN: US201124%%214
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 115, Issue 47; ISSN 1932-7447
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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