Highly efficient acrylic acid production from formaldehyde and acetic acid over the NASICON-type catalyst

Abstract

The condensation of formaldehyde and acetic acid to acrylic acid (AA) is considered as one of the important routes for the clean and high value utilization of coal-based methanol derivatives. Herein, we successfully synthesized environment-friendly NASICON catalysts using Ti(SO₄)₂ as the titanium source. With guaranteed high selectivity (∼78%), the space time yield of AA + MA (methyl acrylate) can be up to 123.9 μmol g⁻¹ min⁻¹, far higher than the results reported previously. Based on the characterizations, it is demonstrated that the modulation of the acidic and basic properties (including distribution, ratio of B/L, etc.) led by the specific elemental and hybrid TiP₂O₇ phase plays crucial roles in catalyst supremacy.