Zirconia has advantageous thermal stability and acid–base properties. The acidity character of ZrO2 can be enhanced through the sulfation process forming sulfated zirconia (ZrO2-SO4). An acidity test of the catalyst produced proved that the sulfate loading succeeded in increasing the acidity of ZrO2 as confirmed by the presence of characteristic absorptions of the sulfate group from the FTIR spectra of the catalyst. The ZrO2-SO4 catalyst can be further modified with transition metals, such as Platinum (Pt), Chromium (Cr), and Nickel (Ni) to increase catalytic activity and catalyst stability. It was observed that variations in the concentrations of Pt, Cr, and Ni produced a strong influence on the catalytic activity as the acidity and porosity of the catalyst increased with their addition. The activity, selectivity, and catalytic stability tests of Pt/ZrO2-SO4, Cr/ZrO2-SO4 and Ni/ZrO2-SO4 were carried out with their application in the hydrocracking reaction to produce liquid fuel. The percentage of liquid fractions produced using these catalysts were higher than the fraction produced using pure ZrO2 and ZrO2-SO4 catalyst.
Montmorillonite K10 (Mt-K10) was chemically modified using a silica-zirconia mixture and the resulting product was named SZMK. The product had an increased total surface acidity, catalytic activity, porosity, and thermal stability. Ammonia adsorption tests and further verification with FTIR and TGA/DTA showed that the acidity of SZMK was higher (0.16 mmol/g) than that of Mt-K10. Catalytic performance was analyzed on the esterification reaction of lauric acid. Refluxing lauric acid and methanol (molar ratio of 1:20) for 20 h with a 20 % (w/w) catalyst showed that catalytic activity of SZMK is high, i.e. methyl laurate production 98.18% (w/w) was achieved.
The thermal treatment of the silica-zirconia montmorillonite K10 and silica-ferri oxide montmorillonite K10 nanocomposites at 300 and 500 °C has been carried out, respectively as part of a study of their function as the catalyst. The heating effect on the crystallinity and the lattice parameter calculation of both nanocomposites was studied using XRD and FTIR instruments. The results showed that the nanocomposite silica-zirconia montmorillonite K10 has a thermal resistance and the crystallinity better than the silica-ferri oxide montmorillonite K10, and both have values varying lattice parameters.
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