VxOy@C catalyst prepared from biomass for hydroxylation of benzene to phenol with molecular oxygen

A series of VxOy@C catalysts was prepared from different types of biomass and NH4VO3 using a hydrothermal method. The prepared catalysts were characterized using a series of methods including XRD, SEM, FT-IR, SEM and XPS to investigate the mechanism of formation of the VxOy@C catalysts. Furthermore, the factors related to the selectivity of phenol and the mechanism of the hydroxylation of benzene to phenol were studied. It was found that the activity was related to the V species on the catalyst and the selectivity was related to the adsorption of phenol.