Highly efficient Mg(OH)Cl/SiO2 catalysts for selective dehydrochlorination of 1,1,2-trichloroethane

A series of Mg catalysts supported on SiO 2 were prepared by an incipient wetness impregnation method and tested for gas phase dehydrochlorination of 1,1,2-trichloroethane. It was found that these catalysts were very active and selective for the reaction. The catalytic performance depended on the Mg loading rather than the Mg precursors as the catalysts using Mg(NO 3 ) 2 ·6H 2 O and MgCl 2 ·6H 2 O as the precursors showed the similar performance. A catalyst containing 10   wt.% of Mg showed the best performance with a steady state TCE conversion of 92% and cis -dichloroethene selectivity of 91%. Moreover, characterizations of the catalysts revealed the formation of Cl-containing Mg species on the surface during the reaction. The analyses of the compositions of the stable catalysts under working conditions indicated a Cl/Mg ratio of 1, suggesting that Mg(OH)Cl could be the active sites for the reaction.