Porous diatomite-immobilized Cu-Ni bimetallic nanocatalysts for direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate

Abstract

A series of diatomite-immobilized CuNi bimetallic nanocatalysts was prepared under ultrasonication and evaluated for the direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate under various conditions. Upon being fully characterized by TPR, TPD, BET, SEM, XRD, and XPS methodologies, it is found that the bimetallic composite is effectively alloyed and well immobilized inside or outside the pore of diatomite. Under the optimal conditions of 1.2MPa and 120°C, the prepared catalyst with loading of 15% exhibited the highest methanol conversion of 6.50% with DMC selectivity of 91.2% as well as more than 10-hour lifetime. The possible reaction mechanism was proposed and discussed in detail. To our knowledge, this is the first report to use diatomite as a catalyst support for direct DMC synthesis from methanol and CO2. Copyright © 2012 Yong Chen et al.