Exploring the possibilities of carbon materials as catalytic supports for partial oxidation reactions

Abstract The present study evaluates the possibilities as catalytic supports for partial oxidation reactions of two activated carbons obtained from biomass waste by partial gasification with CO2 and chemical activation with H3PO4 (AC and ACP, respectively), and of one mesostructured carbon material (PMC). For comparative purposes, the results are compared with those obtained with conventional mesoporous silica material SBA-15. The porous structure and chemical composition have been evaluated by N2 and CO2 adsorption at -196 and 0 °C respectively, SEM, TEM, ICP, XRD and TPR, whereas the support properties have been evaluated as support for Cu active phases during propylene partial oxidation reaction. The results have shown that ACP is a very useful catalytic support that presents many advantages, due to its low cost and simple synthesis, that allow preparing activated carbons with high mesoporosity, favoring the distribution of Cu species, with high stability against gasification at relatively high temperatures and good catalytic activity and selectivity in acrolein production.