Abstract
The vanadium oxide/reduced graphene oxide (VOx/RGO) composites have been prepared by a simple solvothermal method with the assistance of cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The microstructure and morphology of the resultant VOx/RGO composites have been well characterized. The VOx nanoparticles are highly dispersed on the RGO sheets with a particle size of about 25 nm. When used as hydroxylation catalysts, the VOx/RGO composites are more efficient than individual RGO and vanadium oxide catalysts. The enhanced catalytic performance may be related to not only the well dispersed VOx active species, but also the hydrophobic surface and huge π-electron system of RGO for the adsorption and activation of benzene. In addition, the effects of calcination conditions on the microstructure and catalytic properties of VOx/RGO composites have also been investigated. The uniform VOx nanoparticles on the separated RGO sheets show highly efficient catalytic performance, while the formation of aggregated HxV2O5 and bulk V2O5 species along with the destruction of RGO sheets are poor for the hydroxylation of benzene. Up to 17.4% yield of phenol is achieved under the optimized catalytic reaction conditions.
Highlights
Phenol is an important basic chemical raw material that is widely used as a precursor for phenol resins, fibers, caprolactam, dyestuffs, and medicine
The above results from X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier translation infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF), TPR, UV-Vis DRS, and contact angle analysis clearly show that the highly dispersed vanadium oxide (VOx) NPs loading on the reduced graphene oxide (VOx /RGO) were successfully prepared by a simple solvothermal method, in which the intensive interactions may exist between the VOx species and RGO sheets
We have reported the synthesis, structure, and catalytic properties of VOx /RGO composite catalysts
Summary
Phenol is an important basic chemical raw material that is widely used as a precursor for phenol resins, fibers, caprolactam, dyestuffs, and medicine. In spite of the fascinating two-dimensional structure of graphene with huge open π-electron systems, highly specific surface areas, and hydrophobic surface [27,36,37], to the best of our knowledge, few studies on the fabrication of uniform VOx nanoparticles (NPs) on graphene for the hydroxylation of benzene to phenol have been reported so far. In this present work, we report a simple solvothermal strategy for the fabrication of highly dispersed. The effects of catalytic reaction conditions on the catalytic activities have been discussed
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