Characterization and catalytic performance of alkali-treated mordenite for synthesis of ethyl tertiary butyl ether

The mordenite was treated with NaOH solution, and characterized by XRD, NH3-TPD, IR after pyridine adsorption, SEM and N-2 adsorption techniques. The results indicated that the crystallinity, acid amount, surface area and pore volume of the alkali-treated mordenite with template increased compared with the untreated mordenite, while that of the alkali-treated mordenite without template decreased. The catalytic activity of the alkali-treated mordenite with template for ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE) synthesis was high, and the isobutene conversion on it was 58%, which was about 13% higher than that on the untreated sample. The alkali-treated sample without template showed a little higher catalytic activity but lower selectivity for ETBE synthesis than the untreated mordenite.