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Facile Fabrication of Ultrasmall Copper Species Confined in Mesoporous Silica for Chemo‐Selective and Stable Hydrogenation Ethylene Carbonate Derived from CO 2
Author(s) -
Zhang Chanjuan,
Wang Liguo,
Liu Jiaju,
Yang Yanmi,
He Peng,
Cao Yan,
Chen Jiaqiang,
Li Huiquan
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
chemcatchem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.497
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1867-3899
pISSN - 1867-3880
DOI - 10.1002/cctc.201800828
Subject(s) - catalysis , ethylene glycol , dimethyl carbonate , copper , ethylene carbonate , ethylene , mesoporous material , mesoporous silica , materials science , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , sintering , inorganic chemistry , chemical engineering , carbonate , physisorption , chemistry , organic chemistry , metallurgy , electrode , electrolyte , engineering
The hydrogenation of ethylene carbonate to co‐produce commodity methanol and ethylene glycol has attracted growing interests due to the potential chemical utilization of CO 2 in large scale. In this work, we report a novel and facile protocol for the preparation of mesoporous Cu@SiO 2 catalysts and successfully applied the as‐synthesized catalysts in the hydrogenation of ethylene carbonate. The catalysts were characterized in detail by means of N 2 physisorption, N 2 O titration, XRD, FT‐IR, H 2 ‐TPR, TEM and XPS (XAES). This strategy is an effective method for fabricating the unique flower‐like mesoporous Cu@SiO 2 with sub‐2.0 nm ultrasmall Cu particles. The results revealed that the involvement of β‐cyclodextrin improved the Cu dispersion and facilitated exposing more copper active sites, which also indicated that the confined catalyst inhibiting the sintering of copper particles. Meanwhile, the stability of the attained catalyst was superior with the modification of carbon. Importantly, among the catalysts tested in the hydrogenation of ethylene carbonate, 25Cu@SiO 2 ‐β‐P with appropriate copper loading as well as moderate Cu + ratio exhibited superior catalytic performance. Accordingly, the synergistic effect between the Cu + and metallic Cu 0 species was crucial for obtaining better catalytic activity.