General Synthesis of Ordered Mesoporous Carbonaceous Hybrid Nanostructures with Molecularly Dispersed Polyoxometallates

Hybrid nanomaterials with controlled dimensions, intriguing components and ordered structures have attracted significant attention in nanoscience and technology. Herein, we report a facile and green polyoxometallate (POM)-assisted hydrothermal carbonization strategy for synthesis of carbonaceous hybrid nanomaterials with molecularly dispersed POMs and ordered mesopores. By using various polyoxometallates such as ammonium phosphomolybdate, silicotungstic acid, and phosphotungstic acid, our approach can be generalized to synthesize ordered mesoporous hybrid nanostructures with diverse compositions and morphologies (nanosheet-assembled hierarchical architectures, nanospheres, and nanorods). Moreover, the ordered mesoporous nanosheet-assembled hierarchical hybrids with molecularly dispersed POMs exhibit remarkable catalytic activity toward the dehydration of tert-butanol with the high isobutene selectivity (100 %) and long-term catalytic durability (80 h).

Automated summary

The study introduces a facile and green strategy for synthesis of carbonaceous hybrid nanomaterials with molecularly dispersed POMs and ordered mesopores using polyoxometallate-assisted hydrothermal carbonization. The approach can be applied to synthesize ordered mesoporous hybrid nanostructures with diverse compositions and morphologies, showing remarkable catalytic activity towards dehydration of tert-butanol.