Effect of alcohol solvents treated ZrO(OH)2 hydrogel on properties of ZrO2 and its catalytic performance in isosynthesis

A series of ZrO2 catalysts were prepared by treating ZrO(OH)2 hydrogel with different alcohol solvents (C2-C4 alcohols) and calcining under N2 flow at 773 K for 3 h. The obtained ZrO2 catalysts were systematically characterized by the methods of N2 adsorption-desorption, powder X-ray diffraction, NH3 temperature-programmed desorption, and CO2 temperature-programmed desorption. The catalytic performance of each catalyst was evaluated in the selective synthesis of iso-C4 (isobutene and isobutane) and light olefins ( ) from CO hydrogenation. The specific surface area increased for the ZrO2 catalysts obtained by treating ZrO(OH)2 hydrogel with different alcohol solvents. The amounts of both acidic and basic sites on the catalyst surface increased obviously. The catalytic activity (CO conversion) of ZrO2 catalysts also increased after the treatment with different alcohol solvents. The highest activity was obtained over the catalyst which was pretreated with isopropanol. However, alcohol solvent treatment retarded the transformation of ZrO2 crystal structure from tetragonal phase to monoclinic phase, and subsequently resulted in the decrease of monoclinic phase in ZrO2, which led to the decrease of olefin selectivity in corresponding hydrocarbon products ( ).