Efficient dehydrogenation of ethanol to acetaldehyde over silica supported Cu catalyst prepared from microwave-assisted wet-kneading

Cu-based catalysts are crucial for the dehydrogenation of ethanol (EtOH) to acetaldehyde (AcH); however, their performance decreases at higher temperatures due to the low Tammann temperature of Cu species. In this study, we synthesized silica-supported Cu catalysts using microwave-assisted wet-kneading. Characterizations revealed a typical core–shell structure (Cu@SiO₂-WK), which demonstrated high activity, excellent selectivity, and superior stability for ethanol dehydrogenation. The Cu@SiO₂-WK achieved 96.2 % EtOH conversion with 99.9 % selectivity to AcH at 260 °C. After 160 h of reaction, it maintained an EtOH conversion of 90.5 % and AcH selectivity of ∼99.9 %. Following simple calcination, the catalyst’s activity was fully regenerated to 96.1 %. Model catalysts and in situ FT-IR spectra indicate that the core–shell structure significantly enhances the catalyst’s performance in the dehydrogenation of EtOH to AcH.