Activation of Mo and V oxides supported on ZSM-5 zeolite catalysts followed by in situ XAS and XRD and their uses in oxydehydration of glycerol

This paper describes the activation and catalytic performance of a multifunctional catalyst consisting of mixed oxides of vanadium and molybdenum supported on an acidic ZSM-5 zeolite. The zeolite was wet-impregnated with an aqueous solution containing a mixture of NH4VO3 and (NH4)6Mo7O24 precursors at a V/(Mo+V) molar ratio of 0.6. Evolution of the phases during activation (by calcination under 20% O2/He) was followed by synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD), but detection of mixed oxides of MoxVyOz was difficult, due to the high degree of dispersion on the zeolite surface. On the other hand, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) performed simultaneously at the Mo and V K-edges enabled confirmation of formation of the MoV2O8 phase on the acidic ZSM-5 zeolite. The combination of the MoV2O8 phase and the zeolite acid sites produced a highly active catalyst for gas phase glycerol dehydration-oxidation coupled reactions in which acrylic acid was the main product. The multifunctional catalyst presented only 6% of deactivation during a period of 8 h under glycerol stream, while the activities of the bulk mixed oxide and the pure ZSM-5 zeolite decreased by almost 20 and 31%, respectively.