Metathesis of 1-butene and 2-butene to propene over Re2O7 supported on macro-mesoporous γ-alumina prepared via a dual template method

Macro-mesoporous γ-alumina support (MMA) was prepared by a sol-gel route in aqueous medium using pseudo-boehmite as aluminum source and polystyrene microspheres and Pluronic P123 as hard and soft dual templates, respectively. MMA had a BET specific surface area of about 259 m2·g−1, total pore volume of about 1.61 cm3·g−1, macropore diameter of about 102 nm, and mesopore diameter of about 14 nm. Re2O7/MMA and conventional Re2O7/Al2O3 were prepared by a incipient-wetness impregnation method, and their catalytic performances in the metathesis of 1-butene and 2-butene were tested in a fixed-bed tubular reactor. The result showed that Re2O7/MMA possessed higher activity and far longer working life-span than conventional Re2O7/Al2O3.