The effect of the Si/Sn molar ratio of Sn-KIT-6 acid catalysts on the reaction routes for fructose conversion
摘要
This work investigates the effect of the Si/Sn molar ratio on the physicochemical and catalytic properties of Sn-KIT-6 catalysts during fructose conversion. Sn-KIT-6 mesoporous catalysts were prepared using a hydrothermal sol-gel method, which involved the hydrolysis of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) and tin chloride pentahydrate (SnCl4·5H2O) with Pluronic P123 as a surfactant at 35 °C, followed by subsequent calcination at 550 °C. Catalysts with different Si/Sn molar ratios (80, 60, and 40) were synthesized and characterized by SAXRD, TEM, SEM, N2 physisorption, UV-Vis-DRS, FT-IR of adsorbed pivalonitrile, XPS, and MP-AES. The results confirmed the typical cubic structure of the KIT-6 (Ia3d) material, specific areas between 715 and 746 m²/g, pore diameters reaching 6–8 nm, and pore volume of ∼1.2 cm³/g. The Sn-KIT-6 samples exhibited a significant proportion of tetrahedral tin species that are linked to acid sites. Sn-KIT-6(60) and Sn-KIT-6(40) samples also present small amounts of polymeric tin oxide nanoparticles. Increasing the tin content in the KIT-6 material enhances its acidic properties, which are essential for performing fructose dehydration reactions. In particular, the Sn-KIT-6 catalyst (40) exhibited a higher number of acid sites, leading to increased fructose conversion and selectivity towards HMF. A kinetic model, based on a biphasic system in batch experiments, accurately describes the experimental data.