Direct Conversion of Bio-ethanol to Isobutene on Nanosized Zn x Zr y O z Mixed Oxides with Balanced Acid–Base Sites

• Published in: Journal of the American Chemical Society Vol. 133; no. 29; pp. 11096 - 11099
• Main Authors: Sun, Junming, Zhu, Kake, Gao, Feng, Wang, Chongmin, Liu, Jun, Peden, Charles H. F, Wang, Yong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 27.07.2011

We report the design and synthesis of nanosized Zn x Zr y O z mixed oxides for direct and high-yield conversion of bio-ethanol to isobutene (∼83%). ZnO is addded to ZrO2 to selectively passivate zirconia’s strong Lewis acidic sites and weaken Brönsted acidic sites, while simultaneously introducing...