Effect of the evacuation mode of solvent on the textural, structural and catalytic properties of sulfated zirconia doped with cerium

This work studies the evacuation mode of the solvent to optimise the catalytic properties of sulfated zirconia doped with cerium prepared by the sol-gel method. The xerogel solid obtained by ordinary gel drying and calcined at different temperatures exhibits a very low surface area. On the contrary, the aerogel obtained by solvent evacuation under supercritical conditions has a more developed surface. Both aerogel and xerogel exhibit the tetragonal phase of zirconia and/or the zirconium-cerium solid solution phase. Aerogel exhibits more developed superficial Ce4+ and higher acidity. The latter confers it a good reactivity in n-hexane isomerization in the whole temperature range investigated.