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Tailoring the Surface Structure of Silicon Carbide Support for Copper Catalyzed Ethanol Dehydrogenation
Author(s) -
Li MengYue,
Lu WenDuo,
He Lei,
Schüth Ferdi,
Lu AnHui
Publication year - 2019
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.201801742
Subject(s) - dehydrogenation , catalysis , acetaldehyde , materials science , chemical engineering , silicon carbide , copper , carbide , silicon , nanoparticle , dispersion (optics) , selectivity , ethylene , ethanol , inorganic chemistry , chemistry , organic chemistry , nanotechnology , metallurgy , engineering , physics , optics
The production of acetaldehyde through biomass‐derived ethanol dehydrogenation is a sustainable alternative compared to the fossil‐feedstock based process, for which Cu‐based catalysts are considered to be the most efficient. Herein, we modified the surface of silicon carbide (SiC) to alter the properties of the interface from SiO 2 ‐rich to C‐rich, and we prepared a series of Cu‐supported catalysts (Cu/SiC, Cu/SiO 2 /SiC, and Cu/C/SiC) with the aim of insight into the effect of the interface structure and composition on catalytic dehydrogenation of ethanol. At 280 °C, the Cu/SiO 2 /SiC catalyst exhibits high ethanol conversion due to the excellent dispersion of Cu nanoparticles promoted by SiO 2 ‐rich interface. In contrast, Cu nanoparticles dispersed on C/SiC shows somewhat lower activity but excellent acetaldehyde selectivity with trace amounts of by‐products under identical reaction conditions. This difference is attributed to the fast removal of acetaldehyde because of its low affinity for the relatively inert C‐rich interface (C/SiC). This work provides an in‐depth understanding of Cu−Si−C multi‐interfacial structure and the ethanol dehydrogenation behavior, which may shed light on the design of novel catalysts with tailored interfacial structures.