Copper oxide modified SBA-15 for the selective vapour phase dehydrogenation of cyclohexanol to cyclohexanone

Catalysts with efficient dispersion, high activity, and minimum leaching of active component are evergreen areas of interest in the field of catalysis. Incorporation of active component on high surface area materials helps to attain uniform dispersion, increased activity and stability for the catalyst system. Mesoporous materials like SBA-15 are widely used as catalyst support because of its high surface area, thermal and hydrothermal stability, uniform hexagonal mesopores, etc. Here we have synthesized copper oxide modified SBA-15 catalysts with various weight percentages of copper metal and its activity towards the dehydrogenation of cyclohexanol was studied. The reaction was monitored on a continuous flow fixed bed gas phase reactor. Various parameters for the reaction were optimized. SBA-15 with less than 10% Cu content was observed to be the most effective catalyst. The catalysts were found to be competent for the reaction with efficient dispersion of the active component and minimum deactivation.