Propylene Epoxidation by Dioxygen over Catalyst Copper-loaded TiO2

A copper-TiO2 based catalyst(Cu-OH-Cl-TiO2) was prepared through a slurry impregnation approach and the catalyst was found to be active and selective for the epoxidation of propylene by dioxygen. With a feed gas of 10% C3H6, 10% O2 and 80% N2 at a gas hourly space velocity(GHSV) of 4000 h–1, a propylene conversion of 4.8% and a propylene oxide(PO) selectivity of 38.9% were achieved over the obtained Cu-OH-Cl-TiO2 catalyst at a reaction temperature of 500 K. It revealed that Cu2+ provided by crystalline Cu2(OH)3Cl plays a key role in catalytic conversion of propylene to PO.