MoO3-SnO2 catalyst prepared by hydrothermal synthesis method for dimethyl ether catalytic oxidation

Abstract MoO3-SnO2 composite metal oxide catalyst was synthesized by one-step hydrothermal synthesis method without precipitant. The effect of MoOx dispersion state on the catalytic performance of MoO3-SnO2 catalysts with different Mo/Sn molar ratios was investigated for dimethyl ether (DME) low-temperature oxidation to methyl formate (MF). MF selectivity reaches 77.6% with DME conversion of 22.0% over Mo1Sn2 at 150°C. The physiochemical properties of these catalysts were characterized by TEM, XRD, Raman, FT-IR, NH3-TPD and H2-TPR. The results showed that the addition of SnO2 into MoO3 affected the crystal structure of catalysts, forming MoOx species with different degree of dispersion on the surface of SnO2. The special architecture of MoOx-SnO2 plays a major role in modifying the acidity and the oxidizability of MoO3-SnO2 catalysts, leading to the obvious differences in catalytic activity.