Effect of reduction treatment on catalytic performance of Zn-based catalyst for the alcoholysis of urea to dimethyl carbonate

The catalytic activity of zinc powder was evaluated for preparation of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) through alcoholysis of urea. Then a comprehensive study was made on the loaded Zn-based catalysts to find preferable preparation conditions including reduction temperature and loaded amount of the active component. TPR was carried out to determine the preferable reduction temperature, and XPS was used to detect the change of the chemical state of the catalyst. The prepared catalysts were also characterized by means of XRD. Under the selected reaction conditions, DMC yield reached 12.7% and 8.9%, respectively, over zinc powder and loaded Zn-based catalyst. The activity of the loaded Zn-based catalyst increased for six times comparing with that of the zinc powder catalyst.