Catalytic performance of metal ion doped MCM-41 for methanol dehydration to dimethyl ether

Metal ion doped MCM-41 mesoporous molecular sieves (M-MCM-41, M = Al, Ga, Sn, Zr and Fe) were prepared using a hydrothermal synthesis method, with metal chlorides serving as the dopant sources. The M-MCM-41 structures were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic (FTIR) analysis, X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive spectroscopy and N₂ adsorption–desorption measurement. The surface of M-MCM-41 acidities were determined by NH₃ temperature-programmed desorption and pyridine-adsorption FTIR analysis, and their catalytic performance for methanol dehydration to dimethyl ether (DME) was evaluated. The results showed that the prepared M-MCM-41, which exhibited a structure similar to that of MCM-41 with long-range ordered mesoporous structure, contained weak acidic sites. The number of weak acid sites in Al-MCM-41 increased as the Al content increased. The Al content in Al-MCM-41 had an important effect on its catalytic performance, where the highest catalytic activity was 80 and 100 % DME selectivity was achieved at a Si/Al molar ratio of 10. For MCM-41 doped with various types of metal ions, M-MCM-41 (M = Al, Ga, Sn and Zr) also presented a similar wide distribution of acidity, and their catalytic activities were ranked in the following order: Al-MCM-41 > Ga-MCM-41 > Zr-MCM-41 > Fe-MCM-41 > Sn-MCM-41, which were related to the coordination of the metal ions.