Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2019, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (11): 1778-1787.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(19)63419-4

• Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Reflux-synthesized bulk and diluted W-Nb-O mixed oxide bronzes for the valorization of short-chain oxygenates aqueous mixtures

D. Delgado, A. Fernández-Arroyo, N. La Salvia, M. E. Domine, Jose M. López Nieto   

  1. Instituto de Tecnología Química, Universitat Politècnica de València-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Avenida de los Naranjos s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain
  • Received:2019-03-13 Revised:2019-06-01 Online:2019-11-18 Published:2019-09-06
  • Contact: Jose M. López Nieto, M. E. Domine
  • Supported by:
    Financial support by the Spanish Government (RTI2018-099668-B-C21, PGC2018-097277-B-100, and SEV-2016-0683) is gratefully acknowledged. DD and AF-A thank the Severo Ochoa Excellence Program (SVP-2014-068669) and the "La Caixa-Severo Ochoa" Foundation, respectively, for their fellowships. NS thanks "Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico y Tecnológico (CNPq)" in Brasil. Authors are also grateful to the Electron Microscopy Service (Universitat Politècnica de València) for facilities.

Abstract: This work reports the preparation of bulk and KIT-6-diluted W-Nb-O mixed oxide bronzes by a reflux method. The influence of the incorporation of Nb and a mesoporous silica on the physico-chemical features of the catalysts is studied. The addition of Nb favors the formation of single-phase oxide bronze structure, with improved Lewis acidity; while the incorporation of KIT-6 gives rise to well-dispersed mixed metal oxide particles on the diluter. These diluted W-Nb-O catalysts present enhanced surface areas and mesopore volumes. The materials have been tested in the valorization of an aqueous model mixture (acetol/propanal/ethanol/acetic acid/water weight ratio of 5/25/10/30/30), through C-C bond formation reactions. The increase in the Lewis nature of surface acid sites stands as the key point to maximize the total organic yield during the reaction (C5-C10 products). The best catalysts maintain their catalytic behavior after five consecutive uses.

Key words: KIT-6, W-Nb-O oxides, Aqueous oxygenates, Biomass feedstocks, C-C bond formation