Titania-silica aerogels with superior catalytic performance in olefin epoxidation compared to large pore Ti-molecular sieves

The paper provides a short overview on the various Ti- and Si-containing epoxidation catalysts, with a focus on the development and characterisation of titania-silica mixed oxides prepared by the sol-gel-aerogel method. Titania-silica aerogels, dried by semicontinuous extraction of the solvent with supercritical CO₂ at low temperature, possess high surface area, an amorphous mesoporous structure, and a rather even distribution of Ti in the silica matrix. The catalytic activities of mixed oxides, silica-supported titania and Ti-substituted molecular sieves (TS-1, Ti- and Ti-MCM-41) are compared in the epoxidation of 1-hexene, 1-octene, cyclohexene, cyclododecene and norbornene, based on literature data. The activities (i.e. the amount of converted olefin per unit time and catalyst weight) vary in a broad range of several orders of magnitude. It is shown that the low temperature aerogel containing 20 wt% TiO₂ is superior to any other Ti- and Si-containing catalyst for the epoxidation of cyclic olefins. In the epoxidation of linear alkenes TS-1 has outstanding activity. Ti-substituted large and ultra-large pore molecular sieves require further development concerning their catalytic performance.     

Alkene epoxidation with mesoporous materials assembled from TS-1 seeds – Is there a hierarchical pore system?

Hexagonal mesoporous solids were synthesized from solutions containing TS-1 seeds. The products were characterized by XRD, nitrogen and argon physisorption, TEM, TG/DTA of template decomposition (also after extraction of the mesopore template), UV–Vis and IR spectroscopy, and XANES at the TiK edge. Their catalytic activities were assessed for cyclohexene epoxidation in hydrophilic and hydrophobic environment (CH₃OH/water, with H₂O₂ oxidant, and decane, with tert-butyl hydro-peroxide oxidant, respectively) and for n-hexene epoxidation in hydrophilic environment. The mesopore system was clearly documented by XRD, physisorption measurements, and TEM, whereas evidence for micropores by physisorption proved elusive. However, the micropore template was detected in the solids by TG/DTA even after extraction of the mesopore template, and among the Ti sites, which were confirmed to be tetrahedrally coordinated by UV–Vis and XANES, a clear majority was able to coordinate two water molecules. It was concluded that the pore walls had been built up from nanoparticulate TS-1 precursors resulting in walls of ca. 1.5 nm thickness, which resemble rather the exterior layers of a TS-1 crystallite than its (hydrophobic) interior. In cyclohexene epoxidation, the micro-mesophases were by 1–2 orders of magnitude more active than TS-1 and outperformed also Ti-MCM-41, at similar selectivity in hydrophobic medium. With 1-hexene in hydrophilic medium, however, the micro-mesophases failed completely whereas TS-1 exhibited high activity.     

Synthesis of Hierarchical TS-1 Zeolite from Silanized Seeds

Hierarchical TS-1 zeolites with a bimodal pore architecture, consisting of the typical MFI micropores and an additional mesoporosity, have been synthesized by grafting an organosilane compound to the zeolitic seeds previously prepared from two different raw materials: a liquid gel and an amorphous SiO₂–TiO₂ xerogel. These hierarchical TS-1 zeolites show an excellent catalytic behavior in olefin epoxidation reactions employing organic hydroperoxides as oxidants due to the presence of the secondary mesoporosity, which makes possible the access and interaction of bulky molecules with the Ti active sites.     

Efficient catalytic epoxidation of olefins with hierarchical mesoporous TS-1 using TBHP as an oxidant

A series of hierarchical mesoporous TS-1 zeolites with MFI structure were successfully synthesized via hydrothermal route using amphiphilic organosilanes as pore directing templates. These materials were characterized by nitrogen sorption (for surface area, pore volume and pore size distribution), FTIR, SEM and UV–Visible spectroscopy. These materials are efficient catalysts for liquid phase epoxidation of olefins using TBHP as the oxidant. All these TS-1 samples oxidized cyclohexene selectively into epoxide. For the TS-1 sample with 4.4 % Ti complete conversion of cyclohexene into epoxide was observed.     

Synthesis of TS-1 by microwave heating of template-impregnated SiO2–TiO2 xerogels

TS-1 was prepared by microwave heating of a SiO₂–TiO₂ xerogel dry-impregnated with the template, TPAOH. A highly crystalline product was obtained within 30 min after microwave irradiation with yields over 90%. These are significant advantages over the TS-1 obtained by conventional oven heating using alkoxide precursors in liquid phase, which requires 1–2 day crystallization time with low product yields. Characterization of the TS-1 obtained was carried out using XRD, SEM, FT-IR, and UV-vis spectroscopy, and catalytic activity was examined for 1-hexene epoxidation using H₂O₂ as oxidant. These studies revealed that the material obtained by microwave heating of the mixed oxide gel shows essentially identical physicochemical properties to those prepared by conventional means.     

Aerosol-assisted synthesis of hierarchical porous titanosilicate molecular sieve as catalysts for cyclohexene epoxidation

Hierarchical titanosilicate composites (HTS) have been synthesized by an aerosol spray method, by which TS-1 nanoparticles were assembled with cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide and tetraethylorthosilicate/tetra-n-butyl titanate to form a hierarchical porous composites with a core–shell structure. The structure, porosity, morphology and composition of the materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption isotherm, Raman spectroscopy, electron microscopy and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. The hierarchical porous molecular sieve combines the advantages of TS-1 and Ti-KIT-1, and shows high activity and selectivity to epoxide in cyclohexene epoxidation with H₂O₂. The yield of cyclohexene oxide on HTS is much higher than those on TS-1 and Ti-KIT-1. The selectivities to cyclohexene oxide and 1,2-cyclohexanediol can be adjusted by varying the titanium contents of the HTS samples.     

Gas-Phase Propylene Epoxidation over Ag/TS-1 Prepared in W/O Microemulsion: Effects of the Molar Ratio of Water to Surfactant and the Reaction Temperature

Ag/TS-1 was prepared by microemulsion method in which dioctyl sulfosuccinate sodium salt (AOT) was used as the surfactant and n-heptane as the organic solvent. The synthesized Ag/TS-1 was characterized by UV–Vis and TEM and its catalytic properties in gas-phase propylene epoxidation were carried out in a fixed bed reactor. The results show that Ag is highly dispersed on TS-1 and the crystal size can be adjusted through the adjusting of the molar ratio of water to surfactant ([H₂O]/[surfactant] = R). The catalyst prepared with R = 4.74 exhibits the highest catalytic activity for propylene epoxidation in gas-phase, the optimal reaction temperature scope is between 363 and 383 K. Over the catalyst prepared with R = 4.11, propylene conversion and the selectivity to propylene oxide (PO) are 1.1% and 91.0%, respectively.     

Kinetics of Selective Oxidation of Dimethyl Ether to Formaldehyde Over Al2O3-Supported VO x and MoO x Catalysts

The object of this work is to study the effect of hydrothermal treatment on the TS-1/SiO₂ catalyst in propylene epoxidation in fixed bed. The TS-1/SiO₂ catalysts before and after hydrothermal treatment were characterized by means of XRD, XRF, BET, UV–Vis and EPR techniques. It was found by EPR characterization that two types of Ti(IV)-superoxide radicals, A (g _z = 2.0271; g _y = 2.0074; g _x = 2.0010) and B (g _z = 2.0247; g _y = 2.0074; g _x = 2.0010), were observed for the TS-1/SiO₂ catalyst. The superoxo species A was converted to B after the TS-1/SiO₂ catalyst was hydrothermally treated. The results show that hydrothermal treatment temperature and time have marked effects on the activity and the PO selectivity. The optimal hydrothermal treatment temperature and time are 170 and 4 h, respectively. In the long-term propylene epoxidation reaction, about 95% H₂O₂ conversion and above 94% PO selectivity are obtained over TS-1/SiO₂ catalyst hydrothermally treated at 170° C for 4 h.     

Mesoporous Titanium–Silica Composite Encapsulated γ-Fe<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>: Novel Magnetically Recyclable Heterogeneous Catalysts for Olefin Epoxidation Reactions

Abstract  

γ-Fe₂O₃ microparticles encapsulated with silica and an outer layer of ordered mesoporous titanium–silica (γ-Fe₂O₃@nSiO₂@mTi–Si) were synthesized and used for the epoxidation of olefins. Characterization results showed that this material exhibits a typical core–shell structure with high surface area, narrow pore size distribution and high magnetization. Catalytic activity tests showed that this material presents high activity for the epoxidation of olefins, and the catalyst could be easily recycled and reused for several times.     

环氧丙烷的洁净生产技术TS-1催化丙烯环氧化过程研究进展

介绍了钛硅分子筛催化剂（ＴＳ－１）和它催化下的丙烯与Ｈ２Ｏ２的环氧化反应,以及以此为基础发展起来的环氧化过程与Ｈ２Ｏ２生产相结合的集成过程。     

Polyoxometalate–molybdenylacetylacetonate hybrid complex: A reusable and efficient catalyst for oxidation of alkenes with tert-butylhydroperoxide

The hybrid complex consist of molybdenylacetylacetonate complex covalently linked to a lacunary Keggin-type polyoxometalate, K₈[SiW₁₁O₃₉] (POM), was synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, SEM, XRD, diffuse reflectance UV–Vis and FT-IR spectroscopic methods. The hybrid complex, [MoO₂(acac)–POM] (1), was used for alkene epoxidation with tert-BuOOH in 1,2-dichloroethane as solvent. The complex (1) can catalyze epoxidation of various olefins including non-activated terminal olefins. The effect of reaction parameters such as oxidant, solvent, and temperature on the epoxidation of cyclooctene was also investigated. This heterogeneous catalyst was reused several times in the oxidation of cyclooctene.     

Regeneration of Lamina TS-1 Catalyst in the Epoxidation of Propylene with Hydrogen Peroxide

The deactivation and regeneration of the lamina titanium silicalite (TS-1) catalyst for the epoxidation of propylene with dilute H₂O₂was investigated in a fixed-bed reactor. In the scale-up experiment, the dosage of the lamina TS-1 catalyst is 2. 5 kg, after 1000 h reaction the catalyst still exhibits good performance and further increases the reaction time, the conversion of H₂O₂begins to decrease. TG and BET analyses of the deactivated catalysts show that the main species occluded within the zeolite pore are propylene oxide oligomers, and these species occupying the active Ti site and blocking the pores of the lamina TS-1 are the main reason for the deactivation of catalyst. The deactivated catalyst can be regenerated by different regeneration methods. The activity of deactivated catalysts regenerated by dilute H₂O₂or heat treatment by using air or nitrogen as a calcination media can be fully recovered, but a decline in propylene oxide (PO) selectivity of the regenerated catalyst has been observed during the first hours of reaction. However, water vapor treatment of the deactivated catalyst can improve the PO selectivity with the same activity as that of the fresh lamina TS-1 catalyst.     

Ti-MCM-36: a new mesoporous epoxidation catalyst

Ti-containing MCM-36 catalyst was synthesized from a Ti-MCM-22 precursor (P) via surfactant swelling followed by polymeric silica pillaring. Mesoporous region with ca. 2.8 nm pore size was created by expansion between lamellar crystalline sheets in Ti-MCM-22 (P). Characterization of Ti-MCM-36 was conducted using XRD, BET surface area measurement, ICP, and UV-vis spectroscopy. Catalytic performances in 1-hexene and propylene epoxidation reactions using H₂O₂ as an oxidant demonstrated superior performance of Ti-MCM-36 over Ti-MCM-22 or TS-1.     

Kinetics simulation of propylene epoxidation over different Ti species in TS-1

A thorough experimental investigation on the kinetic behavior of liquid-phase propylene epoxidation over TS-1 and tetrapropylammonium hydroxide (TPAOH) treated TS-1 catalysts was conducted in a fixed-bed reactor. The amounts of different coordinated Ti species in the catalysts were quantified by spectroscopies, and their catalytic performances of the epoxidation and alcoholysis of propylene oxide were measured by kinetic modeling. The study shows that the TPAOH treatment converted some of the tetrahedrally coordinated Ti to octahedrally coordinated Ti, and both species were active for the epoxidation and alcoholysis. The superior catalytic performance observed over the TPAOH treated TS-1 is due to two factors, the increased percentage of active sites, and reduced energy barrier for epoxidation on the octahedrally coordinated Ti. In addition, as the H₂O₂ conversion increases, the adsorption equilibrium constant of propylene oxide plays a more decisive role than the activation energy for the selectivity of propylene glycol monomethyl ethers.     

Influence of Pt–Pd/TS-1 Catalyst Preparation on Epoxidation of Olefins with Hydrogen Peroxide

The catalytic performance of the platinum–palladium/titanium silicalite, which was a common catalyst for the direct epoxidation of olefins with hydrogen and oxygen, was tested by epoxidation of allyl chloride with hydrogen peroxide. The epoxidation capacity of the TS-1catalyst was reduced after loading palladium and platinum on it. Ti leaching and crystallinity decrease were observed by XRD and FT-IR. The decomposition of hydrogen peroxide was accelerated by the supported Pd and Pt. These contributed to the loss of epoxidation capacity of TS-1. Ti leaching and crystallinity decrease were probably main causes. We propose that the Ti leaching had the most important influence on the loss of epoxidation capacity     

Epoxidation of allyl alcohol to glycidol using titanium silicalite TS-1: effect of the method of preparation

The epoxidation of allyl alcohol with hydrogen peroxide catalysed by the microporous titanium silicalite TS-1 has been investigated with respect to the effect of the method of catalyst preparation. Three methods of TS-1 synthesis have been studied using the standard tetrapropyl-ammonium cation as template (i) using tetraethyl orthosilicate, tetraethyl orthotitanate as reagents, (ii) using a fluoride method and (iii) using tetrabutyl orthotitanate as the titanium source. The TS-1 samples were characterised by electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy. The method of preparation controlled the morphology of the TS-1 crystals and in particular the crystallisation time was found to be an important parameter. Data are presented that correlate the activity for the epoxidation of allyl alcohol with the morphology of TS-1. In addition it is found that the catalytic activity of TS-1 for this reaction is not related to the intensity or presence of the infrared absorption band at ca. 960 cm^–1.     

Epoxidation of Propylene with Hydrogen Peroxide Over TS-1 Catalyst Synthesized in the Presence of Polystyrene

Titanium silicalite-1 (TS-1) catalyst was synthesized in the presence of polystyrene (PS) particles (denoted as TS-1_PS catalyst) for use in the epoxidation of propylene with hydrogen peroxide. For the purpose of comparison, TS-1 catalyst was also synthesized by a conventional method (in the absence of polystyrene particles). In the epoxidation of propylene, the TS-1_PS catalyst showed a higher conversion of hydrogen peroxide and a higher selectivity for propylene oxide (PO) than the TS-1 catalyst. Consequently, the TS-1_PS catalyst showed a higher yield for PO than the TS-1 catalyst. Characterization results showed that the high catalytic performance of TS-1_PS was attributed to the enhanced hydrophobic property of the catalyst and the suppressed formation of anatase TiO₂ in the catalyst.     

Hydrothermal conversion of ETS-10 to TS-1

Titanium silicalite-1 (TS-1) was hydrothermally using ETS-10 as a dual source of silicon and titanium after acid and calcination treatment. The conversion process was monitored by XRD, SEM, UV–Vis and FT-IR spectra. Catalytic performance of the prepared TS-1 catalyst was tested by 1-hexene epoxidation using H₂O₂ as oxidant, which established that the TS-1 converted from ETS-10 has essentially identical physicochemical properties to those of conventional TS-1 prepared using pure alkoxide precursors.     

Surfactant-Controlled and Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Highly Active Ce x Zr1−x O2 Nano-Oxides for CO Oxidation

Uniform nanosized, mesoporous and high specific surface area ceria–zirconia (1:1 mole ratio) solid solutions were synthesized employing a poly-block copolymer surfactant combined with microwave or thermal treatment. For comparison purpose an identical composition Ce _x Zr_1?x O₂ mixed oxide was also prepared by a conventional coprecipitation method. The surface and bulk structure of the synthesized samples were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), BET surface area and BJH pore size distribution (PSD) methods. The catalytic activity was evaluated for CO oxidation at normal atmospheric pressure. The Ce _x Zr_1?x O₂ solid solutions obtained through surfactant use exhibited high specific surface area and mesoporosity. The XRD measurements revealed the presence of cubic Ce_0.75Zr_0.25O₂ and Ce_0.6Zr_0.4O₂ phases in the case of conventional coprecipitation and surfactant controlled synthesized samples, respectively. The Raman measurements revealed existence of more oxygen defects in the surfactant-controlled and microwave treated sample. The SEM images suggested that all samples consist of typical spherical agglomerates with almost uniform size within the nanometer size range. The TEM measurements revealed nanosized crystallites in a narrow range between 4 and 8 nm, and densely packed in the case of conventional precipitation and microwave treated samples. Interestingly, the Ce _x Zr_1?x O₂ solid solution obtained by surfactant-controlled method and treated with microwave radiation exhibited better CO oxidation activity than other samples. Enhanced activity of surfactant-controlled and microwave treated sample is correlated with its unique physicochemical characteristics.     

Is 1-hexene epoxidation in TS-1 diffusion limited in different solvents?

PFG NMR diffusion measurements were carried out to determine the effect of solvent on intracrystalline reactant diffusivities and on 1-hexene epoxidation rates in TS-1 catalyst. Using n-hexane in silicalite as a mimic for the TS-1 system, the self-diffusivity of n-hexane in silicalite was found to be 24% higher in methanol solvent than in acetonitrile solvent and 45% higher than in acetone solvent. The presence of trace Al did not affect n-hexane diffusivity. Based on analysis of the Weisz modulus for a slab morphology, the 1-hexene epoxidation reaction in TS-1 was found to be diffusion limited only if the crystal size is at least 38 μm in the methanol system.