Methanol to dimethyl ether (MTD) is considered one of the main routes for the production of clean bio-fuel. The effect of copper loading on the catalytic performance of different phases of alumina that formed by calcination at two different temperatures was examined for the dehydration of methanol to dimethyl ether (DME). A range of Cu loadings of (1, 2, 4, 6, 10 and 15% Cu wt/wt) on Al₂O₃ calcined at 350 and 550 °C were prepared and characterized by TGA, XRD, BET, NH₃-TPD, TEM, H₂-TPR, SEM, EDX, XPS and DRIFT-Pyridine techniques. The prepared catalysts were used in a fixed bed reactor under reaction conditions in which the temperature ranged from 180–300 °C with weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) = 12.1 h^-1. It was observed that all catalysts calcined at 550 °C (γ-Al₂O₃ support phase) exhibited higher activity than those calcined at 350 °C (γ-AlOOH), and this is due to the phase support change. Furthermore, the optimum Cu loading was found to be 6% Cu/γ-Al₂O₃ with this catalyst also showing a high degree of stability under steady state conditions and this is attributed to the enhancement in surface acidity and hydrophobicity. The addition of copper to the support improved the catalyst properties and activity. For all the copper modified catalysts, the optimum catalyst with high degree of activity and stability was 6% copper loaded on gamma alumina. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

As the global cumulative installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) devices grows every year, a proportionate number of waste PV modules arises because of their limited lifespan. It is estimated that by 2050, there will be approximately 60–78 million tonnes of PV waste (Farrell, C.; Osman, A. I.; Zhang, X. et al. Sci Rep.2019, 9, 5267). These modules are bound in a strong encapsulated laminate that is prone to imminent degradation. Subsequently, a form of treatment is required to remove a problematic polymeric material such as the encapsulant poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (EVA) in order to recycle. Pyrolysis is an ideal option that facilitates clean delamination by removing the polymer fraction, and it does not promote chemical oxidation to any of the constituents left behind after pyrolysis. To date, there are limited studies on the pyrolysis of EVA found in PV modules, resulting in significant gaps in the knowledge of pyrolysis kinetic parameters. This work aims to investigate the pyrolysis reaction kinetics concerning the EVA encapsulant found in end-of-life (EoL) crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV modules. The thermoanalytical technique employed was thermogravimetric analysis, which was carried out at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 5 °C min^–1 to ensure accuracy and high resolution while analyzing the kinetics. The kinetic triplet was determined and reported for the first time using the Advanced Kinetics and Technology Solutions (AKTS) Thermokinetics software. The main kinetic modeling method employed was the Friedman differential isoconversional method. Other conventional kinetic modeling approaches were also used, such as the integral (Ozawa) and ASTM-E698 methods for comparison of apparent activation energy. It was observed that the activation energy values for each method were 167.66–260.00, 259.70, and 167.00–252.65 kJ mol^–1 for EVA pyrolysis. Additionally, isothermal, nonisothermal, and step-based predictions were reported for the first time using the thermokinetics package. Furthermore, pyrolysis of EVA can have a triple role in the successful delamination of PV modules, recovery of additional constituents, and aiding of waste management of this problematic polymer.

A novel green preparation route to prepare nano-mesoporous γ-Al₂O₃ from AlCl₃.6H₂O derived from aluminum foil waste and designated as ACFL550 is demonstrated, which showed higher surface area, larger pore volume, stronger acidity and higher surface area compared to γ-Al₂O₃ that is produced from the commercial AlCl₃ precursor, AC550. The produced crystalline AlCl₃.6H₂O and Al(NO₃)₃.9H₂O in the first stage of the preparation method were characterized by single-crystal XRD, giving two crystal structures, a trigonal (R-3c) and monoclinic (P2₁/c) structure, respectively. EDX analysis showed that ACFL550 had half the chlorine content (Cl%) relative to AC550, which makes ACFL550 a promising catalyst in acid-catalysed reactions. Pure and modified ACFL550 and AC550 were applied in acid-catalysed reactions, the dehydration of methanol to dimethyl ether and the total methane oxidation reactions, respectively. It was found that ACFL550 showed higher catalytic activity than AC550. This work opens doors for the preparation of highly active and well-structured nano-mesoporous alumina catalysts/supports from aluminum foil waste and demonstrates its application in acid-catalysed reactions.