Selective propylene epoxidation by low cost microporous/mesoporous hierarchical Titanium silicalite-1

Abstract TS-1 (Titanium silicalite-1) with micro/mesoporous hierarchical framework with regular pores diameter of 3–5 nm has been produced efficiency in a low molar ratio of tetrapropyl ammonium hydroxide/silica (TPAOH/SiO2) by utilizing tetraethyl silicate-40 (TES) as silica source under hydrothermal conditions. For reducing the cost of TS-1 production, TPAOH/SiO2 molar ratio decreased to 0.08 in the presence of non-ionic surfactant. Furthermore, cheaper TES is used instead of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), which is normally used for industrial synthesis of TS-1. The resulting samples are characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, FT-IR, UV–Vis spectroscopy and N2 adsorption–desorption. The preparation condition is greatly influenced on TS-1 textural features, particle size, morphology and coordination of titanium species in the structure. Hierarchical TS-1 samples were utilized as catalysts in the propylene epoxidation with hydrogen peroxide in methanol. The catalytic activity was compared with the conventional TS-1.