Cu-incorporated mesoporous materials: Synthesis, characterization and catalytic activity in phenol hydroxylation

Abstract

A series of novel Cu-incorporated mesoporous materials (CMMs) with molar ratios of Cu/Si ranging from 1/200 to 1/20 were synthesized by sol–gel method using glutaric acid as template. The materials were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), N 2 adsorption, diffuse reflectance UV–vis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results indicate that the CMMs have a three-dimensional (3D) worm-like mesoporous structure with a surface area between 600 and 800 m 2 g −1 and the copper ions are incorporated into the matrix with octahedral environment. The catalytic activity of these CMMs in the phenol hydroxylation using H 2O 2 as oxidant is comparable to that of TS-1. Effects of Cu/Si molar ratio in the catalyst and the influence of various reaction parameters on the catalytic activity were investigated in detail and the optimized reaction condition was acquired.