Study of acidic commercial WOx/ZrO2 catalysts by adsorption microcalorimetry and thermal analysis techniques

In this work we report about the characterization of the acidic and redox properties of four different commercial tungstated zirconia catalysts with W loadings of about 12–13 mass%. The samples have been characterized in terms of their micro-structural and surface properties by BET, X-ray diffraction, temperature programmed reduction, elemental chemical analysis and adsorption microcalorimetry of NH 3 . Improved acidity has been detected upon addition of WO 3 to zirconia and differences between the samples were pointed out thanks to the results obtained by the complementary physico-chemical techniques used in this study.