Direct synthesis of Zr-SBA-15 mesoporous molecular sieves with high zirconium loading: Characterization and catalytic performance after sulfated

The Zr-SBA-15 mesoporous materials with high Zr/Si ratio (0–2.32) were first synthesized directly using zirconium nitrate and tetraethyl orthosilicate as precursor, displaying higher thermal stability after activated at 600 °C. 29Si NMR spectra revealed the part existance of ZrO2 in the framework of SBA-15. After sulfated, the SO42-/Zr-SBA-15 exhibited high activity in the isomerization of n-pentane at 35 °C, and the conversion of n-pentane reached 93.9% after reacting 180 min with the SO42-/Zr-SBA-15 of Zr/Si = 1.3, which was higher compared with the bulk sulfated zirconia material and the SBA-15 modified with SO42-/ZrO2 by incipient wetness method.