A Comparison of Catalytic Properties of Cs xH3− xPW12O40 Salts of Various Cesium Contents in Gas Phase and Liquid Phase Reactions.

The cesium salts Cs xH3− xPW12O40 of Cs content x = 2 up to x = 3 were tested as the catalysts in the gas and liquid phase reactions. Dehydration of ethanol and transesterification of triglycerides with methanol were selected as the catalytic reactions. Apart from the standard preparation, the catalysts were prepared by two-stage procedure with methanol or water as a solvent. The Cs-salts were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray techniques. In turn, the influence of Cs-salts composition on the pH and conductivity of their aqueous colloidal solutions was investigated. The results obtained by the latter techniques were also characteristic for acidity of surface layer of colloidal particles because of surface layer-solution equilibrium. It has been shown that the secondary structure of acidic cesium salts existing in crystalline samples (solid solution of H3PW12O40 in Cs3PW12O40) changes after contacting with polar medium to the system consisting most probably of Cs3PW12O40 core with epitaxial layer of heteropolyacid. This is result of the protons migration from bulk to surface layer of primary particles enhanced by polar medium. It strongly influences the surface acidity of primary particles as well as the activity of Cs-salts in transesterification of triglycerides with methanol. In such polar medium, Cs2HPW12O40 salt becomes the most active catalyst, more active than Cs2.5H0.5PW12O40. An accumulation of partial glycerides and in particular glycerol on the surface of primary particles of Cs-salts resulted in relatively low maximum conversion of triglycerides, most probably due to partial blockage of the catalytic centers. This effect and the almost constant activity of Cs-salts under recycling use in the transesterification experiments are considered to be experimental evidences that methanolysis over Cs-salts was accomplished with the participation of surface protons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]