Synthesis and characterization of transition metal containing mesoporous silicas

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter describes synthesis and characterization of transition metal containing mesoporous silicas. Titanium and vanadium mesoporous silicas (MS) have been synthesized at ambient temperature using a neutral templating route with primary alkyl amines as surfactant. Spectroscopic characterization of the samples showed that transition metal cations were highly dispersed in the silica framework. The metal content, the surfactant chain length and the amine/SiO 2 ratio greatly influenced the properties of the final product. These materials are found to be active as catalysts in oxidation reactions with alkyl peroxides at mild temperature. A similar procedure has been followed to prepare Ti and V-containing mesoporous silicas. The influence of synthesis parameters, e.g. the metal content, the amine chain length or the synthesis time has been examined. These materials have shown very interesting properties as catalysts in oxidation reactions with organic peroxides as compared to zeolitic materials.