(575e) Earth-Abundant Metals As Catalysts for Emerging Feedstocks

Making platform chemicals from emerging feedstocks such as biomass and shale gas present new challenges for the development of catalysts that accommodate molecules of widely varying sizes and enhanced hydrothermal stability. In this context, we have been investigating metal-containing ultra-large pore mesoporous silicates synthesized in our laboratory, including Zr-KIT-6¹, Nb-KIT-6², and W-KIT-6³ materials as potential catalysts. As a probe reaction, we investigated ethanol dehydration over these catalysts. Preliminary results indicate that these catalysts are active for ethanol dehydration providing rather high selectivity (nearly 80 %) towards ethylene. Results on activity, selectivity and stability of these catalysts, as well as intrinsic kinetic parameters for ethanol dehydration, will be presented along with mechanistic insights.

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