One-Pot Synthesis of Hierarchically Porous Co2O3-WO3/ZrO2 Solid Acid Catalyst and Its Application in Phenol Alkylation

A novel Co2O3-WO3/ZrO2 solid acid catalyst with hierarchically porous structure and high surface area was prepared by a one-pot co-hydrolysis approach involving a composite surfactant assisted hydrothermal process. All the catalysts were characterized by TEM, SEM, N-2-sorption, XRD and NH3-TPD techniques. Typically, for the alkylation catalytic process of phenol with 1-dodecene, this ternary composite catalyst demonstrated a dodecene conversion as high as 94% and selectivity towards dodecylphenol production of 76% under the optimized reaction conditions. It is believed that the excellent catalytic activity and outstanding reusability should be attributed to the defined ternary composition and throughout three-dimensional hierarchical pore structure.