Functionalized graphene modified styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer as a superhydrophobic catalyst carrier for hydrogen-water liquid phase catalytic exchange

Styrene-divinylbenzene (SDB) catalyst carrier is the key material for hydrogen-water liquid phase catalytic exchange (LPCE) reaction. However, currently available SDB generally has drawbacks such as low hydrophobicity, small particle size, and poor strength. Therefore, it is interesting to obtain SDB carriers with large particle size, superhydrophobicity and high strength. Herein, modification of graphene with hexadecyltrimethoxysilane (HDTMS) and γ-methylallyl oxypropyl (KH570) respectively gave KH570-GNS and HDTMS-GNS with a good lipophilicity and a uniform dispersity. Then, terpolymerization of KH570-GNS with styrene and divinylbenzene provided KH570-GNS-SDB; In-situ polymerization of HDTMS-GNS with styrene and divinylbenzene in oil phase gave HDTMS-GNS-SDB. Data show that catalyst carriers KH570-GNS-SDB and HDTMS-GNS-SDB have a suitable particle size (up to 3.5–4.5 mm), as well as a higher strength and a better hydrophobicity (152.36°) than reported for SDB. Interestingly, the hardness of the modified SDBs with a graphene-content of 1% is 189% greater than that of normal SDB with the same diameter, according to particle hardness test. Furthermore, KH570-GNS-SDB exhibits a high stability more than 11 h at 80 °C.