Evaluation of catalytic activity of MeOx/sepiolite in benzyl alcohol oxidation

A series of MeOx/sepiolite (Me = Cu, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni) catalysts was prepared through the deposition eprecipitation and characterized by means of XRD, EDS, SEM, BET, and H-2-TPR. The structural characterization showed a fine distribution of MeOx metal oxides on magnesium silicate nanobars. The sepiolite-loaded-metal oxide catalysts have been screened for the partial oxidation of benzyl alcohol and shown a good conversion and a very high selectivity to benzaldehyde at mild conditions. Under similar experiments, the catalytic activity of the transition metal oxides on sepiolite decreased in the order of Cr > Co > Cu > Mn > Ni. The productivity of benzaldehyde was associated with the behavior of transition metal ions and reaction temperatures. (c) 2018 The Authors. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Vietnam National University, Hanoi. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).