Modulating the electronic structure of Co-Ni bimetal oxides on mesoporous silica for promoting selective oxidation of alcohol

The selective oxidation of alcohols by transition-metal-based catalysts provides a green route for the production of aldehydes. In this paper, mesoporous SBA-15 supported bimetallic NixCoy oxides were synthesized for the catalytic oxidation of alcohol using oxygen as the sole oxidant. The catalytic activity was highly related to the metal composition, of which the Ni1Co4/SBA-15 catalyst showed the best catalytic performance with high benzyl alcohol conversion of 96.2% and benzaldehyde selectivity of 98.3%. It was proposed that the electronic structure of the NixCoy/SBA-15 catalysts can be modulated by Ni/Co ratio, and high Co3+/Co2+ and Ni3+/Ni2+ ratios promoted the catalyst activity. Compared to the NixCoy nanocatalysts obtained by removing SBA-15 support, the NixCoy/SBA-15 exhibited a better benzyl alcohol oxidation performance, suggesting a diffusion enhancement by the mesoporous structure of SBA-15 support.

Automated summary

The selective oxidation of alcohols using transition-metal-based catalysts is an environmentally friendly approach to produce aldehydes. In this study, mesoporous SBA-15 supported bimetallic NixCoy oxides were synthesized for the catalytic oxidation of alcohols using oxygen as the sole oxidant. The catalytic activity was influenced by the metal composition, with the Ni1Co4/SBA-15 catalyst exhibiting the best performance, achieving a benzyl alcohol conversion of 96.2% and a benzaldehyde selectivity of 98.3%. The results suggest that the electronic structure of the NixCoy/SBA-15 catalysts can be modulated by the Ni/Co ratio, and high Co3+/Co2+ and Ni3+/Ni2+ ratios promote the catalyst activity. The mesoporous structure of SBA-15 support enhances the benzyl alcohol oxidation performance compared to NixCoy nanocatalysts without SBA-15 support.