Preparation and characterization of Rh catalyst supported on nanoporous alumina for the ethylene hydroformylation.

Nanoporous gamma-aluminas were prepared by a sol-gel method with and without surfactant, and characterized by nitrogen adsorption-desorption, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and temperature programmed reduction (TPR). The resulting materials were applied to Rh catalyst supports for the ethylene hydroformylation. The ordered nanoporous alumina (A-1) which was prepared using surfactant, showed well-developed pore structures with high surface area. Rh catalyst supported on A-1 alumina (Rh/A-1) exhibited higher catalytic activity in the ethylene hydroformylation than other Rh catalysts. It is believed that the high catalytic performance of Rh/A-1 resulted from the well-developed pore structure with high surface area of ordered nanoporous A-1 and consequently finely dispersed Rh particle on the surface of gamma-alumina support.