Catalytic Synthesis of n-Butyl Oleate by Cerium Complex Doped Y/SBA-15 Composite Molecular Sieve

Abstract

Abstract Cerium ion was successfully incorporated into Y/SBA-15 micro-mesoporous molecular sieves via the hydrothermal synthesis method to give a series of composite materials. The prepared materials were thoroughly characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and differential thermo gravimetric analysis (TG-DTG). The results showed that the prepared composite materials retained the highly ordered mesoporous two-dimensional hexagonal structure of SBA-15 and the octagonal structure of Y. The catalyst Ce-Y/SBA-15 was prepared and characterized, then the esterification of n-butanol and oleic acid was studied with bismuth phosphotungstate as a catalyst. Using this model reaction, the effects of Ce-HY/SBA-15, molar ratio of alcohol to oleic acid, amount of catalysts, reaction time and reaction temperature were investigated. The experimental results show that the optimal reaction conditions were: 1.8:1 molar ratio of alcohol to acid, 5 % catalyst amount (based on weight of oleic acid), 4 h reaction time and reflux conditions. Under these conditions, the yield of esterification was 90.6 %. The results suggest that the addition of Ce can effectively improve the catalytic properties of composite molecular sieves.