Selective oxidation of methanol to dimethoxymethane over V₂O₅/TiO₂-ZrO₂ catalyst

 The composite TiO₂-ZrO₂ support was prepared through co-precipitation of Ti(SO₄)₂ and Zr(SO₄)₂ solution and V₂O₅/TiO₂-ZrO₂ catalysts with different vanadium loadings were obtained by incipient impregnation with ammonium metavanadate solution. The catalytic performance of V₂O₅/TiO₂-ZrO₂ in the selective oxidation of methanol to dimethoxymethane (DMM) was investigated under mild reaction conditions. The V₂O₅/TiO₂-ZrO₂ catalyst performs better in the selective oxidation of methanol than V₂O₅ supported on the single oxide TiO₂ or ZrO₂. XRD, NH₃-TPD, and H₂-TPR characterization results indicated that the incorporation of highly dispersed ZrO₂ in V₂O₅/TiO₂-ZrO₂ may enhance the surface acidity and the redox ability of vanadium species, which is favorable for the selective oxidation of methanol. The V₂O₅ loading influences the dispersion and structure of vanadium species that are related to the catalyst performance; a V₂O₅ content of 5%~10% is adequate to get V₂O₅/TiO₂-ZrO₂ of high performance for the selective oxidation of methanol to DMM.