PROMOTION OF ZIRCONIA ACIDITY BY ADDITION OF SULFATE ION

The promotion of zirconia by SO42- is studied by percolating of zirconia with aqueous solutions of several sulfur compounds and several concentration of H2SO4 as sources of sulfur. The presence of SO42- is necessary to have catalytic activity to isomerize n-butane and produces a great increase in the stability of the physical texture to thermal treatments. The more convenient solution is 1N H2SO4.SO42-/ZrO2 has the greatest catalytic activity after calcination at 893 K, where the tetragonal phase of ZrO2 predominates. The catalytic activity was found proportional to the specific surface area and surface SO42- concentration.