The present study aims to investigate the catalytic ethanol dehydration to higher value products including ethylene, diethyl ether (DEE), and acetaldehyde. The catalysts used for this reaction were WO3/TiO2catalysts having W loading of 13.5 wt.%. For a comparative study, the TiO2supports employed were varied by two different preparation methods including the sol-gel and solvothermal-derived TiO2supports, denoted as TiO2-SG and TiO2-SV, respectively. It is obvious that the different preparation methods essentially altered the physicochemical properties of TiO2supports. It was found that the TiO2-SV exhibited higher surface area and pore volume and larger amounts of acid sites than those of TiO2-SG. As a consequence, different characteristics of support apparently affected the catalytic properties of WO3/TiO2catalysts. As expected, both catalysts WO3/TiO2-SG and WO3/TiO2-SV exhibited increased ethanol conversion with increasing temperatures from 200 to 400°C. It appeared that the highest ethanol conversion (ca. 88%) at 400°C was achieved by the WO3/TiO2-SV catalysts due to its high acidity. It is worth noting that the presence of WO3onto TiO2-SV yielded a remarkable increase in DEE selectivity (ca. 68%) at 250°C. In summary, WO3/TiO2-SV catalyst is promising to convert ethanol into ethylene and DEE, having the highest ethylene yield of ca. 77% at 400°C and highest DEE yield of ca. 26% at 250°C. These can be attributed to proper pore structure, acidity, and distribution of WO3.
Chemical and Structural Characterization of Amorphous and Crystalline Alumina Obtained by Alternative Sol–Gel Preparation Routes