Prominent catalytic activity of mesoporous molecular sieves in the vapor phase dehydration of cyclohexanol to cyclohexene

Cerium incorporated KIT-6 mesoporous materials were synthesized through direct hydrothermal method and characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen sorption isotherm (BET), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), inductively coupled plasma – atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), diffuse reflectance ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (DRS-UV-Vis), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) methods. It appeared that stable cerium ions were inserted into the silica framework of KIT-6, thus generating acid properties in their host materials. The catalytic activity of Ce-KIT-6 materials was evaluated in the vapor phase dehydration of cyclohexanol to cyclohexene and dicyclohexyl ether at different temperatures with various Si/Ce molar ratios. Ce-KIT-6 (25) showed higher activity with 54% cyclohexanol conversion and 64% selectivity to cyclohexene. The catalytic results indicated that Ce-KIT-6 mesoporous materials could be used as versatile and stable acid catalysts.