无定形硅铝负载镍催化剂上乙烯齐聚反应的活性位点结构鉴定

镍(Ni)基催化剂在低碳烯烃聚合领域具有重要的地位,也是该领域研究的热点.自Johnson等报道(J.Am.Chem.Soc.,1995,117,6414–6415)二亚胺配体络合的Ni(Ⅱ)催化剂可有效降低烯烃聚合度,降低产物中非线性烯烃的选择性,甚至可以生成α-烯烃以来,掀起了Ni基催化剂在烯烃聚合领域的研究热潮.从均相到负载型多相Ni基催化剂,从载体类型到配体性质,从Ni纳米粒子的粒径调控到金属表面价态,关于Ni活性中心的研究工作一直存在争论.本课题组之前研究结果表明,曾明确了无定形硅铝(ASA)载体负载的Ni催化剂,经惰性气氛(N2)预处理得到的一价Ni是烯烃齐聚反应的主要活性中心(J.Chem.Soc.Chem.Commun.,1991,126–127).本文进一步深入研究了不同Al2O3含量的ASA载体上Ni活性位点的结构及其在乙烯齐聚反应中的活性.27Al NMR结果表明,催化剂中的铝存在三种配位方式,分别为AlⅣ、AlⅤ和AlⅥ,其中AlⅣ含量随Al2O3含量的增加而增加.载体中铝配位方式的不同,导致其表面金属负载的金属Ni活性位点所处的结构亦不同.原位FTIR-CO和H2-TPR实验结果表明,催化剂表面存在两种不同结构分布的Ni位点,分别是接枝在弱酸性硅醇上的Ni2+阳离子和Si?(OH)?Al桥式羟基离子交换位置的Ni2+阳离子.多数研究者认为,位于离子交换位置处孤立的Ni阳离子是反应的活性中心.然而,近期有研究者提出负载在酸性硅烷醇表面孤立的Ni2+阳离子为反应的活性中心物质.本文研究发现,随着Al2O3负载量的降低,处于离子交换位置处的Ni2+离子含量逐渐减少,而处于硅醇缺陷位点处的Ni2+离子含量则逐渐增多.原位FTIR-CO分析结果表明,处于硅醇缺陷位点处的Ni2+离子物种在惰性气氛中更易于转化为活性中心Ni+.相应的催化反应结果表明,相比于离子交换位置的Ni2+物种,具有与硅醇缺陷位点相连的Ni2+离子结构更有利于表现出更高的乙烯齐聚化活性.由此可知,处于硅醇缺陷位点的Ni2+物种是乙烯齐聚反应的活性中心的前驱体.本文进一步研究了硅醇缺陷位点处的Ni2+离子物种更易于转化为活性中心Ni+的原因.H2-TPR结果表明,相比于离子交换位置的Ni2+物种,处于硅醇缺陷位点的Ni2+物种与载体之间的相互作用力更弱.C2H4-TPD结果进一步表明,具有这种相对较弱的金属载体间作用力结构的催化剂对反应物C2H4分子的吸附作用力相对更强,吸附量也相对增多,因此其乙烯齐聚的催化性能更优.本研究结果对理解活性中心结构和合理设计催化剂提供参考.

Identification of the structure of Ni active sites for ethylene oligomerization on an amorphous silica-alumina supported nickel catalyst

The structure of Ni active sites supported on amorphous silica-alumina supports with different contents of Al2O3 loadings in relation to their activities in ethylene oligomerization were investigat-ed. Two kinds of Ni sites were detected by in situ FTIR-CO and H2-TPR experiments, that are Ni2+cations as grafted on weak acidic silanols and Ni2+cations at ion-exchange positions. The ethylene oligomerization activities of these Ni/ASA catalysts were found an ascending tendency as the Al2O3 loading decreased, which could be attributed to the enriched concentration of Ni2+species on acidic silanols with a weaker interaction with the amorphous silica-alumina support. These Ni2+species were more easily to be evolved into Ni+species, which has been identified to be the active sites of ethylene oligomerization. Thus, it seems reasonable to conclude that Ni2+species grafted on acidic silanols were the precursors of active sites.