Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 224, 1831-1841 (2015)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2015-02502-0

Regular Article

Ni-exchanged AlSBA-15 mesoporous materials as outstanding catalysts for ethylene oligomerization

¹ Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier, UMR 5253, CNRS-UM2-ENSCM-UM1, Matériaux Avancés pour la Catalyse et la Santé, 8 rue de l'Ecole Normale, 34296 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
² Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environment Protection, Technical University of Iasi, 71 D. Mangeron Ave., 700050 Iasi, Romania
³ Faculty of Chemistry, University of Craiova, 165 Calea Bucuresti, 200144 Craiova, Romania

^a e-mail: vasile.hulea@enscm.fr

Received: 28 November 2014
Revised: 21 May 2015
Published online: 30 July 2015

Abstract

Ni-exchanged mesoporous materials with SBA-15 topology were prepared by post-synthesis alumination of SBA-15 silica with sodium aluminate at room temperature, followed by ion exchange with nickel. Exploration of various parameters resulted in a simple preparation method for catalysts with perfect pore system and aluminium tetrahedrally coordinated in the silica framework for Si/Al > 6. These properties were proved by using appropriate characterisation techniques, including powder X-ray diffraction, N₂ sorption, TEM, and ²⁷Al MAS NMR. Ni-AlSBA-15 exhibited outstanding catalytic properties in the oligomerization reaction of ethylene performed at 150 ^∘C and 3.5 MPa. Activity up to 175 g of oligomers per gram of catalyst per hour was the highest reported to date with Ni-based solid catalysts.