Fe-Cr pillared clay as catalysts for the ethanol to gasoline conversion

Abstract

Bentonite is a clay mineral type of montmorillonite that can be used as a catalyst. The use of bentonite as a catalyst has weaknesses, namely small surface area, pore volume and low thermal stability, so it is necessary to modify the structure. Modification of bentonite structure carried out in this research used the pillarization method (Pillared Clay or PILC) with the addition of Fe and Cr metals to form Cr/PILC, Fe/PILC, and Fe-Cr/PILC catalysts. The PILC catalysts can be used as a catalyst in the ethanol to gasoline conversion processess for alternative fuels. The XRD result shows that the pillarization process with the addition of Fe and Cr metals was succeeded so it can increase the interlayer spacing by 22,03 Å, 15,79 Å, and 15,85 Å on the Cr/PILC, Fe/PILC, and Fe-Cr/PILC catalysts. The SAA result shows an increase in surface area and pore volume in the Cr/PILC, Fe/PILC, and Fe-Cr/PILC catalysts structure. The presence of Brønsted acid type is indicated through the absorption peaks at 1515-1640 cm−1 and Lewis acid type at 1435-1470 cm−1 from the FTIR result. The TGA result shows an increase in thermal stability on the Cr/PILC, Fe/PILC, and Fe-Cr/PILC catalysts. The Fe-Cr/PILC catalyst shows the best activity results on the ethanol to gasoline conversion process with the acquisition of percent conversion and selectivity by 43.30% and 87.15% respectively.