SBA materials as support of iridium catalyst for hydrogenation reactions

Abstract

This paper investigates the catalytic properties of SBA-3 and SBA-15 supported iridium catalysts. The produced catalysts (1 wt.% Ir) were tested for their performance in hydrogenation of toluene and the selective nitro group hydrogenation of ortho-chloronitrobenzene (o-CNB) to ortho-chloroaniline (o-CAN) using in-situ generated hydrogen from the aqueous-phase reforming (APR) of methanol. The obtained results were compared with the hydrogenation performance of iridium catalysts supported on the most widely used supports such as alumina and silica. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, BET, TPR-H2, H2 chemisorption, XPS and TEM techniques. The highest activities were observed in the case of the iridium catalysts supported on ordered mesoporous silica, both in hydrogenation of toluene and o-chloronitrobenzene. The catalytic activity of iridium supported on SBA-3 was much higher than that of Ir supported on the commonly used supports such as Al2O3 or SiO2.