Synthesis of Bimetal Fe and Cu Altered TUD-1: A Mesoporous Catalyst for Phenol Hydroxylation Reaction.

Abstract

Fe and Cu ions incorporated (Si/Cu = 50, Si/Fe = 50 and Si/Cu + Fe = 50) amorphous, wormhole structured mesoporous catalysts (CuTUD-1, FeTUD-1 and FeCuTUD-1) (TUD-1-Technische Universiteit Delft) have been synthesized hydrothermally using low cost, non-surfactant template triethanolamine (TEA). Physicochemical properties of the catalysts were made using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Nitrogen sorption, FT-IR, DRS UV Visible, FT Raman, SEM, TEM and TG-DTG techniques. The results showed that the materials possess mesoporous, foam type morphology, surface area 485-634 m2/g, pore size 4.8-6.8 nm, pore volume 0.67-0.83 cm3/g and metal ions (Cu2+ and Fe3+) coordinative environment. The highly dispersed Cu2+ and Fe3+ active sites are observed in FeCuTUD-1 catalyst. Also, the synthesized catalysts are tested in the oxidation of phenol with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) oxidant. Further, reaction parameters such as time, temperature, and catalyst were also investigated.