Hosting AlCl3 on ternary metal oxide composites for catalytic oligomerization of 1-decene: Revealing the role of supports via performance evaluation and DFT calculation

Enhancing catalytic activity and stability of supported Lewis acid catalysts remain a particular challenge owing to the limited understanding and unsatisfactory tuning of the interplay between the active components and the supports. Herein, upon immobilizing AlCl3 on a series of ternary metal oxides including La2O3–Al2O3–SiO2, NiO–Al2O3–SiO2 and Ga2O3–Al2O3–SiO2, we clearly revealed the influence of the compositions and structures of the supports on the catalyst performances through experiments together with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The catalytic performances of the supported samples were evaluated by oligomerization of 1-decene using both batch reactor and fixed-bed apparatus. The results suggest that the AlCl3 supported by NiO–Al2O3–SiO2 composites exhibits the highest catalytic activity and stability because of its positive pore structure and thereof the high loading of active species. Importantly, DFT calculations indicate that the variations of the host-guest interaction energy between the ternary oxide composites and AlCl3 are in good agreement with the experimental results. This study highlights the compositions and structures of the supports are crucial to the catalytic performances of Lewis acid catalysts, and provides fundamental guidance for design of high-performance supported catalysts.