Selective catalytic oxidation of phenylcarbinol with Fe-doped Cu/SBA-15 catalyst: A study on the synergistic effect of Cu-Fe metals

In this study, Cu, Fe/SBA-15 catalysts were prepared by impregnation method, and a series of characterization were carried out. XRD, physical adsorption and TEM results showed that SBA-15 molecular sieve has a highly ordered two-dimensional hexagonal mesoporous structure, and the loading of active components does not significantly destroy the ordered mesoporous structure of SBA-15. The catalyst with Cu: Fe=2:1 showed the best catalytic performance, and the oxidation yield of phenylcarbinol reached 54 % at 90 °C with DMSO as solvent and TBHP as oxidant for 3 h. Physical and chemical analysis by XPS, DR. UV–vis and H2-TPR showed that Cu-Fe synergistic effect can significantly improve the catalytic performance, the highly dispersed Cu species in bimetallic catalysts were more concentrated on the catalyst surface, which improved the redox performance and electron transfer ability of the catalysts. The above characterization results provide strong evidence to explain the difference of catalytic activity.