Acrolein production from methanol and ethanol mixtures over La- and Ce-doped FeMo catalysts

[Display omitted] •Acrolein can be obtained with a high yield starting from a light alcohols mixture.•The catalyst used for the reaction is easily transferable in the industry.•The study reaction opens a green route to obtain high value molecule: acrolein. The acrolein production from methanol and ethanol mixtures over iron-molybdate-based catalysts was studied. The reaction to acrolein can be described by two successive steps: the first consists on the oxidation of both alcohols into their corresponding aldehydes and the second step is the subsequent aldol condensation of the as-formed aldehydes. The iron-molybdate catalysts were modified by doping with La and Ce (1%mol) in order to improve the aldol condensation step of the process. Series of catalysts were thus synthesized with different Mo/Fe ratios (i.e., 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5) and calcined at three different temperatures (i.e, 350 °C, 400 °C and 450 °C). The best catalytic performance was observed for FeMoCe2.0 (400 °C) for which the acrolein yield reached 42% (T = 320 °C, MetOH/EtOH = 1, GHSV = 3900 h−1). Furthermore, all the samples were characterised by TGA-DSC, HT-XRD, XPS, BET, LEIS, XRF, CO2-TPD, Pyridine (FTIR) and NH3 (calorimetry) adsorption. The increase in acrolein yield observed upon La and Ce doping was attributed to acid/base properties modification.