Preparation, Characterization and Catalytic Activity of Sulfated Zirconia by Varied Sol-Gel Method

Abstract

The sulfated zirconia catalysts were was prepared by sol–gel processes consist of varied templating method. Both preparations consist of sol-gel synthesis of zirconium dioxide followed by sulfatation process by using NH4SO4 solid reaction method. Two different templating agent; urea and cetyltrimetyl ammonium bromide was used in sol-gel processes. The prepared material was characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) measurements. From the XRD measurement it can be concluded that both materials consist of ZrO2 in combined phases while from BET surface area analysis it can be noted that material prepared by urea template has higher specific surface area compared to that use CTAB template. Both materials exhibit the activity as acid catalyst in microwave assisted conversion of citronellal. It is also confirmed that the higher the surface area the higher total conversion of citronellal obtained. Study on the correlation between physicochemical properties of materials with the catalytic activity was discussed in this paper.