Catalytic activity of ratio-dependent SBA-15 supported cerium/Pt catalysts for highly selective oxidation reaction of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde

The Pt/Ce bimetal doped Mesoporous SBA-15 with various metal ratios was prepared by a wet chemical route. Several characterization methods were applied to determine the structural and chemical properties of the catalyst such as XRD, FT-IR, SEM, BET, and TEM Analysis. The prepared SBA-15 catalyst has a hexagonal mesoporous structure after the addition of cerium doesn’t affect the structure of the SBA-15 catalyst it is also confirmed by TEM analysis. The catalytic performances of the Pt/Ce-SBA-15 catalysts were examined in the BzOH conversion under acetonitrile as a solvent and tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) as an oxidant. The Pt/CeO2(15%)-SBA-15 (PCS-15) is the best catalyst composition of the prepared catalyst with a maximum conversion of 98.5% and selectivity of 100%. The reaction parameters like the molar ratio of TBHP: BzOH, catalyst amount, temperature, and reaction time were explored in detail. The recycling studies show that the synthesized Pt/CeO2(15%)-SBA-15 (PCS-15) catalyst is more stable up to 7 consecutive runs. The Pt/CeO2(15%)-SBA-15 composite has tremendous application potential in organic synthesis, fuel cells, and electrochemical biosensors due to its outstanding reactivity, excellent selectivity, and remarkable stability as well as recyclability.