Synthesis and characterization of mesoporous vanadium sulfides as environmental catalysts for the cycloaddition of CO2 with 2-(phenoxymethyl)oxirane) and oxidation reactions

Metal sulfide is a vital species of compound semiconductor materials, whose metallic ions are in mono-, bi-, or maybe in multi-form. Considering such materials, layered transition metal sulfide (LTMS) including layered transition metal dichalcogenides (LTMDs) like VS2 and VS4 (also called patronite mineral) has attracted growing interest. Moreover, it can be regarded as graphene analogs due to its large interlayer spacing and high theoretical specific capacity, enabling such materials to be applied in different fields i.e. photoelectric staffs, electro-catalysis phenomena, Li-containing batteries, and energy storage usages. Herein, a practical synthetic protocol is desig-nated to construct mesoporous vanadium sulfides (VS2 and VS4) with controlled morphologies from VS2 (Flower-like), VS4 (Urchin-like), VS4 (Microsphere), and VS2 (Nanosheet assemblies) via adjusting the molar ratio of vanadium acetylacetonate and L-cysteine using a one-step solvothermal method. The catalytic activity of va-nadium sulfides as an environmental catalyst has been considered for cycloaddition reaction of CO2 and 2-(phenoxymethyl)oxirane), oxidation of dibenzyl sulfide, and 1-phenylethan-1-ol. The prepared mesoporous va-nadium sulfides have a higher surface area than the previously reported ones. The results and analysis revealed that the catalytic behavior of vanadium sulfides significantly depends on physical features such as morphology and specific surface area. The structure of the prepared materials was studied using a variety of characterization techniques: FTIR, XRD, TGA, BET, FE-SEM, EDX, and X-ray mapping

Automated summary

Metal sulfide is a compound semiconductor material that can exist in different forms of metallic ions. Layered transition metal sulfide, such as VS2 and VS4, has attracted significant interest due to its similarity to graphene and its diverse applications in fields including photoelectric devices, electro-catalysis, batteries, and energy storage. This study presents a practical synthetic method to form mesoporous vanadium sulfides with controlled morphologies by adjusting the molar ratio of vanadium acetylacetonate and L-cysteine using a one-step solvothermal method. The catalytic activity of these vanadium sulfides was investigated in several reactions, and their structural properties were characterized using various techniques.