Efficient and recyclable catalysts for selective oxidation of polyols in H2O with molecular oxygen

Advanced carbon materials with improved physical properties and tailored surface morphology and chemistry were developed and applied as the support for platinum nanoparticles. The carbon materials are in regular spherical form (around 100 mm) and have a scale-like surface morphology. Platinum nanoparticles of high dispersion was achieved and detailedly characterized by EPMA, TEM, and XPS. The resulting catalysts show high activity for the selective oxidation of glycol, propylene glycol, and glycerol with molecular oxygen as the oxidant. The correlation between catalytic behaviour and the materials' surface properties (active phase dispersion, support surface morphology and chemistry, and bimetallic effect) were further investigated. The recyclability and stability of the catalysts were tested over a five-run recycling experiment. No marked deactivation was observed and the transformation of the dispersion state of platinum nanoparticles during this process was detected by XPS and TEM to address the stabilizing mechanism of the carbon support for platinum nanoparticles.