Shaping of mesoporous AISBA-15 as cylindrical nano reactor for tertiary butylation of phenol.

Mesoporous AISBA-15 with different n(Si)/n(Al) ratios (45, 136 and 215) in the powder (P) form were synthesized by hydrothermal technique. The powder materials were shaped into cylindrical extrudates (Ex) by compounding with additives such as bentonite (binder) and methylcellulose (plasticizer). The AISBA-15 materials were characterized by XRD, N2 adsorption, AAS, 27Al MAS-NMR and thermogravimetric analysis. The orderly growth of AISBA-15 is evidenced by its XRD patterns. The surface area and pore volume of AISBA-15 catalysts were around 950 m2/g and 1.3 cm3/g respectively. A decrease in surface area and pore volume were observed for AISBA-15 (Ex) materials in comparison to AISBA-15 (P) materials. This may be due to partial blocking of pore entry and surface area coverage of additives during the shaping of extrudates. Vapor phase alkylation of phenol with tert-butanol was carried out over AISBA-15 (P) and AISBA-15 (Ex) catalysts and the results revealed that both powder and extrudate samples showed similar activity for phenol conversion. The activity of AISBA-15 catalysts follows the order: AISBA-15 (45) > AISBA-15 (136) > AISBA-15 (215) for both powder and extrudate forms. The major products were 2-tert-butylphenol (2-TBP), 4-tert-butylphenol (4-TBP) and 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol (2,4-DTBP). The selectivity to para product is much higher than other products. The catalyst exhibited steady conversion, and deactivation by coke formation of the catalyst is much reduced in AISBA-15 materials.