Effect of Sulfation of Zirconia on Catalytic Performance in the Dehydration of Aliphatic Alcohols

Catalytic dehydration of 2‐propanol and that of 1‐butanol were performed at atmospheric pressure and 150–300°C over ZrO₂ and sulfated ZrO₂ (S/ZrO₂) in a fixed‐bed, tubular reactor. The catalysts were characterized with XRD, elemental analysis, FT‐IR, N₂ physisorption, TG/DTA, TPD, and TPR. The main structures of ZrO₂ and S/ZrO₂ were monoclinic and tetragonal, respectively. As ZrO₂ was modified with sulfuric acid, its surface area and acid amount were greatly increased, whereas the pore volume, the pore diameter, and the particle size were reduced. Both samples owned weak basicity. For both reactions, only dehydration products of alkene and ether were obtained. The alcohol conversion enhanced remarkably with the catalyst acid amount and the surface area as well as the reaction temperature. In addition, the ether selectivity on S/ZrO₂ decreased with raising the reaction temperature. The activation energy was 81.0 kJ/mol in the propene formation from 2‐propanol over S/ZrO₂. The corresponding value was 94.4 kJ/mol for the dehydration of 1‐butanol.