Deactivation behavior of SiO_2 supported copper catalyst in hydrogenation of diethyl oxalate

High yield of ethylene glycol(EG) can be obtainedby using the catalyst with 20% Cu loading,but the short life of thecatalyst blocks its industrial application.This work focuses on the cause of the deactivation behavior.SiO2 supported copper catalystfor gasphase hydrogenation of diethyl oxalate(DEO) was prepared using the ammoniaevaporation method.The catalyst wascharacterized by the means of X-ray diffraction(XRD),temperature-programmed reduction(TPR) and highresolution transmissionelectron microscopy(HRTEM).It was found that copper particles were highly dispersed on the surface of fresh catalyst in smallsize,and the aggregation of them was the main reason for deactivation.In addition,the results indicated that Cu0 is the main activesite for the hydrogenation.