Acid‐Base Synergistic Catalysis over Zn/Al Layered Double Oxides toward the Hydrolysis of Ethyl Carbonate under Mild Conditions

Abstract

Among many ethylene glycol (EG) synthetic methods, the ethylene carbonate (EC) route is preferred due to its extremely high EG selectivity and low H 2 O/EC ratio. In this work, a variety of layered double hydroxides (LDHs) and layered double oxides (LDOs) were synthesized by the co-precipitation method and evaluated as catalysts for this reaction. The Zn 3 Al-LDO showed the highest catalytic activity under low H 2 O/EC ratio and mild conditions, and the EG yield of 93 %-99 % could be obtained at 100 °C for 3-4 h. This superior performance is attributed to the absence of the "memory effect", allowing Zn 3 Al-LDO to retain a significant number of base sites in the hydrolysis system. The active sites inhibition experiment proved that Zn 3 Al-LDO is an acid-base synergistic catalyst and the base sites are dominant. The catalyst can be recycled at least five times with calcination and activation to maintain excellent catalytic activity.