In Situ Characterization Reveals a Favorable Reconstruction of BiVO4 in Thermal catalysis

Reconstruction of catalysts, widely acknowledged in electrocatalysis, has rarely been explored in thermal catalysis. This study demonstrates a dynamic favorable reconstruction of BiVO 4 in thermal selective oxidation of benzylic C–H of toluene using in situ techniques. BiVO 4 undergoes reconstruction during high-temperature H 2 reduction, wherein Bi dissolves and aggregates into metallic Bi particle to form Bi/BiVO 4 . Bi/BiVO 4 undergoes secondary reconstruction through high-temperature O 2 oxidation in thermal catalysis, wherein Bi migrates toward metallic Bi particle to form Bi 2 O 3 /BiVO 4 . Bi 2 O 3 /BiVO 4 exhibits good adsorption performance on toluene and O 2, and promotes charge transport to generate more abundant active species. Therefore, a toluene conversion of 26,300.00 μmol·g cat –1 ·h –1 and product yield of 410.00 mmol·g cat –1 were achieved, giving the highest reported product yield for thermal selective oxidation of the benzylic C–H bond of toluene. Based on this, Bi 2 O 3 /BiVO 4 catalysts with high-performance can be synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal method, opening up new avenues for thermal catalyst design.