Preparation of Morphology‑Tunable MSNs Supports and Their Catalytic Performance in Ethanol Dehydrogenation

In this work, MSNs were employed as catalyst supports. By precisely adjusting the type and concentration of structure-directing agents and other experimental parameters, spherical silica, lamellar MSNs-a, granular MSNs-b and spongy MSNs-c supports were fabricated.

Copper species were then immobilized on the above supports via the ammonia evaporation method to synthesize a series of copper-based catalysts. Catalytic tests toward ethanol dehydrogenation to acetaldehyde demonstrate that the spongy Cu/MSNs-c catalyst possesses the optimal catalytic performance, achieving an ethanol conversion of 33.9%, acetaldehyde selectivity of 96.3%, and acetaldehyde yield of 32.69%. Meanwhile, we preliminarily investigate the potential effects of supports with different morphologies on catalytic performance by means of SEM, FT‑IR, and XRD characterizations.