Hua Lim, S., Xi, S., Sato, T., Konishi, N., Zheng, J., Liu, Y., Utsunomiya, M., & Borgna, A. (2023). Regulating monolayer WO4 tetrahedral units to promote a sustainable 4,4-Bisphenol-A industrial process. Chemical Engineering Journal, 455, 140724. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2022.140724
Abstract:
Catalysts for 4,4-Bisphenol-A (BPA) production have moved from mineral acid (HCl) to bi-functional (-SO3H and -SH) resins, with high performance but limited lifespan while non-regenerable. How to achieve regenerable acidic catalysts with comparable performance as resin catalysts remains a challenge. Here, using a facile and rational approach, we present that the Indium and Titanium dual-doped W-based catalysts give full acetone (ACT) conversion within 2 h at > 96% 4,4-BPA selectivity, being higher than those over commercial resin catalysts. X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) and Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) analysis reveal that the well-organized monolayer WO4 tetrahedral units promoted by In and Ti acts as the active species, being highly stable up to 800 oC and regenerable via simple calcination. The performance has been validated via life test (> 8000 h) using crude phenol feedstock. This advance will give strong impacts on sustainable industrial processes beyond 4,4-BPA production, with great potential extending to other acid catalyzed reactions.
License type:
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
Funding Info:
There was no specific funding for the research done
Description:
The research is supported by the industrial collaboration between ISCE2 and Mitsubishi Chemicals.