Studies on structural properties, surface acidity and benzene isopropylation activity of sulphated ZrO2-TiO2 mixed oxide catalysts

A series of sulphated ZrO2-TiO2 mixed oxide with different nominal sulphate loadings in the range of 2-15 wt.% was prepared and characterized for their structural properties, surface acidity and benzene isopropylation activity. The catalyst with 10 wt.% nominal sulphate loading showed highest surface area and uniform pore size distributions. Surface acidity, measured by NH3-TPD method, showed increase in acidity with sulphate loading and the 10 wt.% sulphate loaded catalyst showed highest acidity. The activities of these catalysts were tested for isopropylation of benzene to cumene using 2-propanol as the alkylating agent. The 10 wt.% sulphate-loaded catalyst also showed highest activity for this reaction with ∼97% cumene selectivity. The higher activity of this catalyst was attributed to its higher acidity.