A new metal oxide catalyst in alcohol condensation Original Research Article

The characteristics of a new ternary catalyst obtained from tin dioxide, cerium dioxide and rhodium oxide (Sn–Ce–Rh–O) are presented. The material is also used as a chemical gas sensor. The properties of this catalyst have been compared to the properties of pure tin dioxide. The Sn–Ce–Rh–O catalyst shows high activity and selectivity in the ketonisation of n-butanol. At the temperature of 350°C and 1 h−1 load, dipropylketone has been obtained with 89% selectivity at 88% n-butanol conversion. The catalytic material has a crystal structure of a rutile type. It is built from very small crystallites of 5 nm size on average. The distribution of particular components of the catalyst is homogeneous. The specific area of the Sn–Ce–Rh–O catalyst is 70 m2/g.