M. Arai et al., EFFECT OF ALKALI-METAL PROMOTER ON SILICA-SUPPORTED COPPER-CATALYSTS IN BENZYL ALCOHOL OXIDATION, Journal of the Chemical Society. Faraday transactions, 92(14), 1996, pp. 2631-2636
Citations number
40
Categorie Soggetti
Chemistry Physical","Physics, Atomic, Molecular & Chemical
The effect of alkali metals, such as Na, added to silica-supported cop
per (Cu/SiO2) catalysts has been studied in the gas-phase catalytic ox
idation of benzyl alcohol. The main products were benzaldehyde as a pa
rtial oxidation product and carbon dioxide as a complete oxidation pro
duct. The silica-supported copper catalysts were prepared using both i
on-exchange and impregnation methods. The catalyst prepared by the imp
regnation method (Cu-imp/SiO2) had a higher oxidation activity than (C
u-ex/SiO2) prepared by the ion-exchange method. The effects of reactio
n temperature and the amount of supported Cu on the oxidation activity
were investigated using the catalysts both with and without added Na.
The addition of alkali metal to the silica-supported copper catalysts
prepared by both methods was found to promote the oxidation activity,
particularly the partial oxidation activity. The coordination and red
ox properties of the Cu/SiO2 catalysts, with and without alkali metal,
were investigated using diffuse reflectance (DR) spectroscopy and tem
perature-programmed reduction (TPR) measurements. It is suggested, bas
ed on the DR spectra, that the alkali-metal added to the Cu/SiO2 catal
ysts decreases the electronegativity of the supported Cu species; this
decrease makes dissociative oxygen adsorption easier. The other role
of the added alkali metal was thought to be to remove the oxidic Cu sp
ecies which do not have catalytic activity for the partial oxidation.