Synthesis of copper-nickel/SBA-15 from rice husk ash catalyst for dimethyl carbonate production from methanol and carbon dioxide

The SBA-15 was synthesized via sol-gel process by using rice hush ash and tetraethyl orthosilicate as silica sources at a ratio of 50:50. Subsequently, Cu-Ni bimetals were loaded on the SBA-15 and were tested for the direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate from CH3OH and CO2. FTIR showed that methanol reacted with pre-adsorbed carbon dioxide to form methoxy carbonate species that was the reaction intermediate. It was found that 0.5 g of catalyst with Cu and Ni bimetal loading of 5 wt% exhibited the highest activities. Moreover, the molybdenum modified catalyst showed greater beneficial effects on the stabilization of the catalyst. (C) 2015 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.