Reactivation of perfluorinated ion-exchange microcomposite catalysts
AssigneeE. I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company
InventorsMark Andrew Harmer, Qun Sun
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Catalyst comprising a perfluorinated ion-exchange microcomposite can be reactivated upon contact with at least one cleaning agent, such as an oxidizing agent, organic solvent, supercritical fluid or detergent. The process may further comprise heating prior to, during or after contact followed by washing with water and/or an organic solvent.
Claims7
A process for reactivating a catalyst comprising a perfluorinated ion exchange microcomposite which has been deactivated during storage or through use in a catalytic reaction, said perfluorinated ion exchange microcomposite comprising a perfluorinated ion-exchange polymer with pendant sulfonic acid groups and/or carboxylic acid groups entrapped within and highly dispersed throughout a network of metal oxide wherein the weight percentage of perfluorinated ion-exchange polymer in the microcomposite is about 0.1 to about 90 percent, comprising:
- contacting the deactivated catalyst with at least one cleaning agent selected from the group consisting of an oxidizing agent, an organic solvent, a supercritical fluid, and a detergent for a time sufficient to increase the activity of the catalyst, provided that when an acid is used as the cleaning agent, the catalyst is contacted with at least one additional cleaning agent selected from the group consisting of an oxidizing agent, an organic solvent, a supercritical fluid, and a detergent.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.