The Dehydration and Dehydrogenation of Ethanol Catalyzed by TiO2–ZrO2

Abstract

Ethanol was converted into ether, ethylene, and butadiene over TiO2–ZrO2 with various contents of ZrO2in a flow system. Maximum acidity and activity were obtained at 50% ZrO2. The butadiene formation was explained by both dehydration and dehydrogenation reactions on acidic and basic sites, implying that TiO2–ZrO2 is an acid-base bifunctional catalyst.