ABSTRACT The catalytic upgrading of ethanol into C 2 + olefins has garnered increasing interest as a strategy for producing distillate fuels via olefin oligomerization. In this work, we present Cu/Ta x O y /SiO 2 as a highly efficient and stable catalyst system for the direct conversion of ethanol into butene‐rich olefins. The synergy between Cu and Ta x O y species supported on SiO 2 provides a favorable balance of metallic and acidic functions, yielding high carbon efficiency and sustained catalytic performance. A 7.5%Cu/26%Ta 2 O 5 /SiO 2 catalyst exhibited olefins selectivity of 90%–92% at ethanol conversions of 98%–99%, maintained over 140 h on stream. This was achieved by systematically examining catalyst design variables—including preparation method (sequential vs. co‐impregnation), Cu and Ta 2 O 5 loadings, and choice of SiO 2 support. Lifetime studies revealed an initial induction period during which alkane selectivity declined while olefin selectivity increased, indicative of alkane dehydrogenation. Structural and spectroscopic characterization (XRD, TEM, CO‐FTIR, pyridine‐FTIR) enabled us to attribute this behavior to evolving surface properties of the Ta x O y species under reaction conditions.
Affandy et al. (Wed,) studied this question.