Premium
Multi‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes as a Catalyst for Gas‐Phase Oxidation of Ethanol to Acetaldehyde
Author(s) -
Wang Jia,
Huang Rui,
Feng Zhenbao,
Liu Hongyang,
Su Dangsheng
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.201600234
Subject(s) - acetaldehyde , catalysis , carbon nanotube , ethanol , selectivity , chemical engineering , reactivity (psychology) , chemistry , carbon fibers , materials science , nanotechnology , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry , composite number , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology , engineering , composite material
Multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were directly used as a sustainable and green catalyst to convert ethanol into acetaldehyde in the presence of molecular oxygen. The C=O groups generated on the nanocarbon surface were demonstrated as active sites for the selective oxidation of ethanol to acetaldehyde. The transformation of disordered carbon debris on the CNT surface to ordered graphitic structures induced by thermal‐treatment significantly enhanced the stability of the active C=O groups, and thus the catalytic performance. A high reactivity with approximately 60 % ethanol conversion and 93 % acetaldehyde selectivity was obtained over the optimized CNT catalyst at 270 °C. More importantly, the catalytic performance was quite stable even after 500 h, which is comparable with a supported gold catalyst. The robust catalytic performance displayed the potential application of CNTs in the industrial catalysis field.