Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.59, No.14, 6405-6415, 2020
Dimethyl Carbonate Synthesis from Urea Methanolysis over ZnO-Nb2O5-TiO2 Mixed Oxide Catalysts
Regarding the environmental downsides of using traditional methods for dimethyl carbonate (DMC) production, urea alcoholysis approaches have been the subject of intense interest in recent years. As a general trend, the dissipation of reactivity in metal oxide catalysts, which is mostly done by leaching, has caused a dramatic fall in the DMC yield. Herein, a series of catalysts with different molar ratios of ZnO, Nb2O5, and TiO2 were prepared by a modified sol-gel method and used in urea methanolysis to DMC. Incorporation of ZnO and Nb2O5 into the TiO2 matrix provided limited or even zero leaching, resulting in easy recovery and reusability of the catalysts. The parameters effective in the catalytic performance were investigated. Among the tested catalysts, ZnO(0.54)-Nb2O5 (0.20)-TiO2 (0.26) exhibited the best performance with a DMC yield of 39.1% under optimal conditions. Overall, this work provides a suitable method for increasing the stability of metal oxide catalysts.