Catalytic dehydration of lactic acid to acrylic acid over dibarium pyrophosphate

•Biomass lactic acid is a promising candidate for production of bulk chemicals.•Ba2P2O7 has a high activity for dehydration of lactic acid to acrylic acid.•Ba2P2O7 meterial was first utilized in the catalytic dehydration system.

Barium phosphate catalysts were prepared by a precipitation method. The catalysts were calcined at 500 °C for 6 h in air atmosphere and characterized by SEM for morphological features, by XRD for crystal phases, by N2 sorption for specific surface area, by TPD–NH3 for acidity and by TG for thermal stability. The dibarium pyrophosphate catalyst was found to have the best catalytic performance, ascribing to weak acidity on the surface. Under the optimal reaction conditions, 99.7% of the lactic acid conversion and 76.0% of the selectivity to acrylic acid were achieved over the dibarium pyrophosphate catalyst.

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