Premium
Silica‐Supported Phosphotungstic Acid for Gas Phase Dehydration of Glycerol
Author(s) -
Herbon Martin,
Lange Andreas,
Weiß Michael,
Suprun Wladimir,
Enke Dirk
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
chemical engineering and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-4125
pISSN - 0930-7516
DOI - 10.1002/ceat.201400495
Subject(s) - phosphotungstic acid , chemical engineering , dehydration , leaching (pedology) , catalysis , chemistry , glycerol , phase (matter) , polymer , chromatography , materials science , organic chemistry , biochemistry , environmental science , soil science , engineering , soil water
Phosphotungstic acid (H 3 PW 12 O 40 6H 2 O) was immobilized within a hierarchically structured silica matrix by sol–gel inclusion using polyethylene oxide as a phase separation initiator (one‐pot synthesis). The macropore size of the SiO 2 ‐HPW composites was controlled by the polymer content. The hierarchically structured catalysts with different HPW loadings were tested against their counterparts with monomodal pore size distribution, applying the dehydration of glycerol as a test reaction. The catalysts with bimodal pore size distribution showed a significantly better long‐term stability. The improved performance was attributed to their balanced acidity, excellent leaching stability, and enhanced mass transfer within the hierarchically structured pore system.