High-pressure hydrothermal synthesis of MoVTeNbOx with high surface V5+ abundance for oxidative conversion of propane to acrylic acid

A series of MoVTeNbO x -mixed metal oxides were synthesized by high-pressure hydrothermal method. The effects of temperature and time during the preparation process on the structure and catalytic performance of MoVTeNbO x were investigated. It was demonstrated that high content of M1 phase (94.5%) MoVTeNbO x with typical needle-shape morphology and high surface abundance of V 5+ (68.9%) could be fabricated by high-pressure hydrothermal method in a short time (30–60 min) without hydrogen peroxide post-treatment. The catalytic results of propane selective oxidation showed that the MoVTeNbO x sample synthesized at 200 °C for 30 min possessed the highest surface V 5+ abundance and largest proportion of terminating (001) plane, displaying the highest selectivity (74.1%) for acrylic acid. Moreover, the prepared MoVTeNbO x showed excellent stability in high temperature continuous reaction. • MoVTeNbO x was fabricated facilely by high-pressure hydrothermal technology. • This developed method could shorten preparation time dramatically. • High content M1 phase MoVTeNbO x could be obtained without H 2 O 2 post-treatment. • Synthesized MoVTeNbO x had high surface V 5+ abundance of 68.9%. • As prepared MoVTeNbO x exhibited excellent catalytic performance.