Conversion of ethanol to 1,3-butadiene over Na doped ZnxZryOz mixed metal oxides

Abstract Despite numerous studies on different oxide catalysts for the ethanol to 1,3-butadiene reaction, few have identified active sites (i.e., type of acidity) correlated to the catalytic performances. In this work, the type of acidity needed for ethanol to 1,3-butadiene conversion has been studied over Zn/Zr mixed oxide catalysts. Specifically, synthesis method, Zn/Zr ratio, and Na doping have been used to control the surface acid–base properties, as confirmed by characterizations such as NH 3 -TPD and IR-Py techniques. The 2000 ppm Na doped Zn 1 Zr 10 O z -H with balanced base and weak Bronsted acid sites was found to give not only high selectivity to 1,3-butadiene (47%) at near complete ethanol conversion (97%), but also exhibited a much higher 1,3-butadiene productivity than other mixed oxides studied.