Correlation between acidic properties of nickel sulfate supported on TiO2-ZrO2 and catalytic activity for ethylene dimerization

A series of catalysts, NiSO₄/TiO₂-ZrO₂, for ethylene dimerization was prepared by the impregnation method using an aqueous solution of nickel sulfate. For NiSO₄/TiO₂ -ZrO₂ sample, no diffraction line of nickel sulfate was observed up to 30 wt%, indicating good dispersion of nickel sulfate on the surface of TiO₂-ZrO₂. The addition of nickel sulfate to TiO₂-ZrO₂ shifted the phase transition of TiZrO₄ from amorphous to orthorhombic to a higher temperature because of the interaction between nickel sulfate and TiO₂-ZrO₂. The number of acid sites of NiSO₄/TiO₂-ZrO₂ increased in proportion to the nickel sulfate content up to 20 wt% of NiSO₄. Nickel sulfate supported on TiO₂-ZrO₂ was found to be very active even at room temperature, giving a maximum in both activity and acidity when the catalyst containing 20% NiSO₄ was calcined and evacuated at 500°C The asymmetric stretching frequency of the S=O bonds for NiSO₄/TiO₂-ZrO₂ samples was related to the acidic properties and catalytic activity. That is, the higher the frequency, the higher both the number of acid sites and the catalytic activity for ethylene dimerization.