Influence of heat treatment on catalytic performance of Co–N–C/SiO2 for selective oxidation of ethylbenzene

Abstract

The effect of heat treatment on the Co–N–C/SiO2 catalysts prepared through supported metalloporphyrin has been investigated for selective oxidation of ethylbenzene. And techniques such as BET, XRD, FT-IR, UV–vis, TEM, TG–DTA and XPS are used to explore the relationship between heat temperature and the catalytic performance of the catalysts. The results show that Co–N–C/SiO2 catalyst heated at 500°C exhibits much higher activity for ethylbenzene oxidation compared with its counterparts such as Co–N–C/SiO2 catalysts heated at 300°C, 400°C, 600°C and 700°C, respectively. This may be attributed to the formation of much more Co–N4–C active sites on the surface of Co–N–C/SiO2 catalyst heated at 500°C.