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The desorption of methanol and dimethyl ether has been studied over fresh and hydrocarbon-occluded ZSM-5 catalysts with Si/Al ratios of 25, 36 and 135 using a temporal analysis of products reactor. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM, N physisorption and pyridine FT-IR. The crystal size increases with Si/Al ratio from 0.10 to 0.78 µm. The kinetic parameters were obtained using the Redhead method and a plug flow reactor model with coupled convection, adsorption and desorption steps. ZSM-5 catalysts with Si/Al ratios of 25 and 36 exhibit three adsorption sites (low, medium, and high temperature sites), while there is no difference between medium and high temperature sites at a Si/Al ratio of 135. Molecular adsorption on the low temperature site and dissociative adsorption on the medium and high temperature sites give a good match between experiment and the plug flow reactor model. The DME desorption activation energy was systematically higher than that of methanol. Adsorption stoichiometry shows that methanol and DME form clusters onto the binding sites. When non-activated re-adsorption is accounted for, a local equilibrium is reached only on the low and medium temperature binding sites. No differences were observed, other than in site densities, when extracting the kinetic parameters for fresh and activated ZSM-5 catalysts at full coverage. Graphical Abstract: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2-Propanol and oxygen were converted over titania and gold nanoparticles supported on titania to investigate the reactivity of the support, the influence of the metal and the role of metal-support interactions. The catalysts were characterized by N2 physisorption and transmission electron microscopy. In addition to deriving the degrees of conversion and the yields as a function of temperature, temperature-programmed desorption and diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy were applied in fixed-bed reactors under continuous flow conditions. Over pure TiO2 above 500 K the acid-base catalyzed dehydration yielding propene and water, the dehydrogenation to acetone and H2, and the oxidative dehydrogenation to acetone and water were found to occur. The additional presence of Au nanoparticles induced the selective oxidation to acetone and H2O at temperatures below 400 K, whereas the selective oxidation to acetone at higher temperatures above 500 K was also observed on pure TiO2. Also the dehydration of 2-propanol to propene and H2O and, to a minor extent, the total oxidation to CO2 and H2O were catalyzed by Au/TiO2. Therefore, the Au/TiO2 catalyst shows bifunctional properties in oxygen activation needed for the selective oxidation of 2-propanol. 2-propoxide species were detected by IR spectroscopy, which are identified as intermediate species in 2-propanol conversion, whereas strongly bound acetates and carbonates acted as catalyst poison for the selective low-temperature oxidation route, but not for the high-temperature route. Selective low-temperature oxidation is assumed to occur at the perimeter of the Au nanoparticles, which also enhance the high-temperature oxidation route on TiO2 pointing to a Mars-van Krevelen mechanism based on an enhanced reducibility of TiO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]