Ethanol dehydrogenative reactions catalyzed by copper supported on porous Al-Mg mixed oxides.

Mixed aluminum and magnesium oxides (AlMgO) prepared by means of an emulsion-mediated sol-gel method was impregnated with copper nitrate solution and used in the ethanol dehydrogenative reactions to produce acetaldehyde and ethyl acetate. The emulsified system allowed to obtain a macro-mesoporous support that resulted in an outstanding dispersion of copper. The porous catalyst was about 3 times more active than the non-porous counterpart, due to the formation on the support's surface of Cu together with the more active Cu species.

Catalytic performance of texturally improved Al-Mg mixed oxides derived from emulsion-synthesized hydrotalcites.

Mixed oxides of aluminum and magnesium derived from hydrotalcites were prepared by means of a sol-gel method mediated by an emulsified sol as pore template. The emulsion consisted of ethanol as the continuous phase and -dodecane droplets as the dispersed phase, which was stabilized by the presence of the surfactant Pluronic P123. The use of such an emulsion was essential for obtaining materials with a porous structure that were assessed by mercury intrusion porosimetry and nitrogen physisorption.