Properties and catalytic performance in phenol hydroxylation of iron on zeolite beta prepared by different methods Onsulang Sophiphun 1 • Karin Fo ¨ttinger 2 • Sirinuch Loiha 3 • Arthit Neramittagapong 4 • Sanchai Prayoonpokarach 1 • Gu ¨ nther Rupprechter 2 • Jatuporn Wittayakun 1 Received: 31 May 2015 / Accepted: 21 July 2015 Ó Akade ´miai Kiado ´, Budapest, Hungary 2015 Abstract Iron (Fe) was loaded on zeolite beta (BEA) in ammonium (NH 4 BEA) or proton (HBEA) forms by various methods. Fe/HBEA-LSIE and Fe/NH 4 BEA-LSIE were prepared by liquid state ion exchange (LSIE). This method resulted in low Fe loading and a good dispersion. The form of Fe was Fe 2 O 3 mainly located at the ion exchange position in the zeolite channels. Fe/HBEA-IWI and Fe/HBEA-PM were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation (IWI) and physical mixing (PM), respectively. Both catalysts had higher Fe loading and larger Fe 2 O 3 particles located on both external surface and in the zeolite channels. Despite the different loadings, all samples gave similar phenol conversion in phenol hydroxylation, around 60 % and yielded products catechol (CAT) and hydroquinone (HQ) with the CAT/HQ mole ratio 2:1. After the catalytic testing, all catalysts had a dark color from coking. A further investigation revealed a formation of coke and organic acids. According to temperature programmed oxidation (TPO), heavy coke was produced from Fe/ HBEA-LSIE and Fe/NH 4 BEA-LSIE. The coke from Fe/HBEA-LSIE was heavier than that from Fe/NH 4 BEA-LSIE. Only light coke was produced from Fe/HBEA- IWI and Fe/HBEA-PM. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11144-015-0908-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. & Jatuporn Wittayakun jatuporn@sut.ac.th 1 School of Chemistry, Institute of Science, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand 2 Institute of Materials Chemistry, Vienna University of Technology, 1060 Vienna, Austria 3 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand 4 Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand 123 Reac Kinet Mech Cat DOI 10.1007/s11144-015-0908-2