Sulfated zirconia grafted on a mesoporous silica aerogel: Influence of the preparation parameters on textural, structural and catalytic properties

Silica supported sulfated zirconia catalysts were synthesized via a new method by grafting sulfated zirconia on the surface of a silica aerogel previously prepared. The main parameters studied in this work were the S/Zr, Zr/Si molar ratios and the support nature. The synthesized solids were characterized using XRD, N₂ physisorption at 77 K, TG-DTA/SM, sulfur chemical analysis and adsorption–desorption of pyridine followed by infrared spectroscopy. These solids were tested in the n-hexane isomerization reaction. Two types of mesopores were observed on the silica aerogel. This mesoporosity was affected depending on the preparation parameters.

The increase of the Zr/Si molar ratio induces the decrease of the size of zirconia particles deposed on the support. In this case, appreciable amounts of sulfur are retained with the presence of a relatively strong Brönsted and Lewis acid sites on the catalyst surface. A high density of Brönsted sites seems to be interesting in the n-hexane isomerization reaction.