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Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.41, No.20, 4921-4927, 2002
Flame-made titania/silica epoxidation catalysts: Toward large-scale production
Titania/silica catalysts were made continuously in flame reactors and evaluated for the demanding epoxidation of 2-cyclohexenol with tert-butylhydroperoxide. Silica- and titania-precursors were evaporated separately and mixed prior to feeding into a hydrogen-air diffusion flame. Upon reaction, the corresponding oxides formed highly agglomerated nanoparticles with titania confined to the surface of silica particles. The epoxidation activity was strongly dependent on the titania content of the catalyst. Scaling-up the production rate of these catalysts (6-500 g/h) in the flame did not affect their exceptionally high catalytic performance. Sample composition and homogeneity were determined by local analysis using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy. Large-scale flame-made catalysts (100-500 g/h) were compared to similar catalysts made in a laboratory flame microreactor (6 g/h) and to conventional ones prepared by wet-phase chemistry. Compared to classical catalysts (65-80% selectivity), the flame-made titania/silica showed excellent selectivity (up to 90%) at 80% conversion.