Fecha de publicación: -- Fuente: Journal of applied polymer Lugar: RESEARCH ARTICLE CNT-reinforced Ion-Exchange Resin are synthesized via in situ suspension polymerization. The catalyst exhibits superior thermal stability and anti-swelling capacity. In ethylene oxide hydration, the bicarbonate-form catalyst achieves 97.4% conversion and 98.3% selectivity under optimized conditions, with stable performance over 2500 h. This strategy offers a potential durable catalyst for industrial applications.

ABSTRACT
The catalytic hydration of ethylene oxide (EO) to monoethylene glycol (MEG) is an industrially important process, but conventional ion-exchange resin (IER) catalysts suffer from limited thermal stability and undesirable swelling. In this study, multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are incorporated into a pyrrolidinium-functionalized styrene-divinylbenzene resin via in situ suspension polymerization to address these challenges. Comprehensive characterization confirms the effective CNT dispersion and strong interactions with the polymer matrix. The resulting CNT-reinforced IER exhibits improved thermal stability, enhanced anti-swelling capacity, and a notably lower exchange capacity loss compared with conventional IERs. In a fixed-bed reactor for EO hydration, the bicarbonate-form of CNT-reinforced IER catalyst achieves over 97% EO conversion and 98% MEG selectivity under optimized conditions (90°C, 2.25 h−1 and a water-to-EO molar ratio of 11.20) and maintains stable performance over 2500 h. These results demonstrate that CNT reinforcement, combined with the pyrrolidinium functionality, provides a durable and highly selective catalyst for industrial EO hydration.