Nafion-Incorporated Silicate Structured Nanocomposite Mesoporous Catalysts for Dimethyl Ether Synthesis

Abstract

Being chemically and thermally stable, Nafion resin is considered to be an attractive solid acid catalyst. Although it has high acid strength and the ability to catalyze a wide range of reactions, the catalytic activity of Nafion is limited, because of its very low specific surface area. In this study, mesoporous Nafion−silica nanocomposites were developed by following a one-pot acidic hydrothermal synthesis procedure. Synthesized catalysts were determined to have well-dispersed structures with high surface area values (595−792 m2/g) and strong Brønsted, as well as Lewis, acid sites. The activities of these novel catalysts were tested in dimethyl ether synthesis from methanol in a flow system. The effects of modifications in the synthesis procedure and Nafion loading showed that the material synthesized from a solution containing a Nafion/silica weight ratio of 0.15 and refluxed with a 2 M sulfuric acid−ethanol (SAE) mixture for surfactant removal was the best catalyst for this reaction. Production of the green transportation fuel alternate dimethyl ether (DME) was achieved with this catalyst at very high yields with almost 100% DME selectivity at >180 °C.