Collect. Czech. Chem. Commun. 1993, 58, 1591-1599
https://doi.org/10.1135/cccc19931591

Role of the Structure and Electronic Properties of Fe2O3-MoO3 Catalyst on the Dehydration of Isopropyl Alcohol

Abd El-Aziz A. Said

Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt

Abstract

Molybdenum oxide catalyst doped or mixed with (1 - 50) mole % Fe3+ ions were prepared. The structure of the original samples and the samples calcined at 400 °C were characterized using DTA, X-ray diffraction and IR spectra. Measurements of the electrical conductivity of calcined samples with and without isopropyl alcohol revealed that the conductance increases on increasing the content of Fe3+ ions up to 50 mole %. The activation energies of charge carriers were determined in presence and absence of the alcohol. The catalytic dehydration of isopropyl alcohol was carried out at 250 °C using a flow system. The results obtained showed that the doped or mixed catalysts are active and selective towards propene formation. However, the catalyst containing 40 mole % Fe3+ ions exhibited the highest activity and selectivity. Correlations were attempted to the catalyst composition with their electronic and catalytic properties. Probable mechanism for the dehydration process is proposed in terms of surface active sites.