Tungstate-modified aluminium phosphate - 1. Preparation, characterisation and catalytic activity towards alcohol and cumene conversion reactions

A series of tungstate-impregnated aluminium phosphate samples are prepared by varying the tungstate weight percent from 3 to 20 and characterised by X RD and Nz-adsorption-desorption method. Surface areas are found to decrease with increase in tungstate loading. However, tungstate-loaded samples exhi bit an increasing trend in acidity and catalytic activity. The sample with 10 wt.% tungstate loading shows highest dehydration and dehydrogenation act ivity for isopropanol and cumene conversion, respectively. The low C-2(+) h ydrocarbon selectivity indicates that the new acid sites formed due to tung state impregnation is not strong enough to dehydrate methanol to hydrocarbo ns. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.