Effect of Microstructures on the Acidity and Catalytic Performance for H 2 Ti 3 O 7 Nanomaterials

Abstract The effects of the microstructure of H 2 Ti 3 O 7 nanomaterials on the acidity and catalytic performance were examined. Layered metal oxides H 2 Ti 3 O 7 , two‐dimensional H 2 Ti 3 O 7 nanosheets and one‐dimensional H 2 Ti 3 O 7 nanotubes were successfully synthesized. The physicochemical properties of the as‐prepared catalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, TG, BET, LRS and Py‐FTIR. Esterification of acetic acid with n ‐butanol was employed as test reaction to evaluate the catalytic performance of the as‐prepared solid acid catalysts. The results show that the microstructure is important to the catalytic activity, and the catalytic performance of the nanotubes is significantly higher than the values from nanosheets and layered H 2 Ti 3 O 7 . H 2 Ti 3 O 7 nanotubes with multi‐walled scroll‐type open end structure possess the largest specific surface area among the as‐prepared catalysts, and it has stronger Brønsted acid strength and larger acid amount than that of nanosheets. The high catalytic activity for nanotubes may result from surface acid characteristics and confinement effect.