The invention discloses a supported
zirconium sulfate catalyst, a preparation method thereof and application thereof in synthesizing
ethylene glycol monoethylether acetate or
tributyl citrate. The catalyst comprises the following components in proportion by weight: 10 to 40 percent of
zirconium sulfate tetrahydrate and 60 to 90 percent of carrier, wherein the carrier is mesoporous
molecular sieve SBA-15 or
active carbon. The preparation method comprises the following steps: (1) preparation of an
active carbon carrier, wherein the
active carbon is soaked by
sodium hydroxide and
hydrochloric acid respectively, the solution is filtered, the active carbon is placed into a
nitric acid solution for
reflux, the solution is filtered, and the active carbon is washed to neutrality and dried; (2) preparation of a mesoporous
molecular sieve carrier, wherein a template agent is dissolved in dilute HCl, ethyl
orthosilicate is added dropwise into the mixture, the mixture is stirred at a constant temperature, the mixture is subjected to
ageing and filtering to obtain a
solid, and the
solid is baked to remove the template agent to obtain the mesoporous
molecular sieve carrier; and (3) preparation of the catalyst, wherein the
zirconium sulfate tetrahydrate is dissolved in water, the carrier is added into a water solution for stirring and impregnating, the mixture is heated to remove the water, and the mixture is dried to obtain the catalyst. The method overcomes the defects of difficult separation, incapacity of recycling the catalyst, long process flow,
corrosion of equipment and environmental
pollution of the conventional catalyst.