1. School of Chemical Engineering, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, China 2. National & Local United Engineering Research Center for Chemical Process Simulation and Intensification, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, China
The one-step highly selective oxidation of cyclohexane into cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol as the essential intermediates of nylon-6 and nylon-66 is considerably challenging. Therefore, an efficient and low-cost catalyst must be urgently developed to improve the efficiency of this process. In this study, a Co3O4–CeO2 composite oxide catalyst was successfully prepared through ultrasound-assisted co-precipitation. This catalyst exhibited a higher selectivity to KA-oil, which was benefited from the synergistic effects between Co3+/Co2+ and Ce4+/Ce3+ redox pairs, than bulk CeO2 and/or Co3O4. Under the optimum reaction conditions, 89.6% selectivity to KA-oil with a cyclohexane conversion of 5.8% was achieved over Co3O4–CeO2. Its catalytic performance remained unchanged after five runs. Using the synergistic effects between the redox pairs of different transition metals, this study provides a feasible strategy to design high-performance catalysts for the selective oxidation of alkanes.
S Tang, J She, Z Fu, S Zhang, Z Tang, C Zhang, Y Liu, D Yin, J Li. Study on the formation of photoactive species in XPMo12−nVnO40-HCl system and its effect on photocatalysis oxidation of cyclohexane by dioxygens under visible light irradiation. Applied Catalysis B, 2017, 214 : 89– 99 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2017.05.027
2
J M Thomas, R Raja, G Sankar, R G Bell. Molecular-sieve catalysts for the selective oxidation of linear alkanes by molecular oxygen. Nature, 1999, 398( 6724): 227– 230 https://doi.org/10.1038/18417
3
F Recupero, C Punta. Free radical functionalization of organic compounds catalyzed by N-hydroxyphthalimide. Chemical Reviews, 2007, 107( 9): 3800– 3842 https://doi.org/10.1021/cr040170k
4
J Jian, K You, X Duan, H Gao, Q Luo, R Deng, P Liu, Q Ai, H Luo. Boosting one-step conversion of cyclohexane to adipic acid by NO2 and VPO composite catalysts. Chemical Communications, 2016, 52( 16): 3320– 3323 https://doi.org/10.1039/C5CC09840H
5
M Balamurugan, R Mayilmurugan, E Suresh, M Palaniandavar. Nickel (II) complexes of tripodal 4N ligands as catalysts for alkane oxidation using m-CPBA as oxidant: ligand stereoelectronic effects on catalysis. Dalton Transactions (Cambridge, England), 2011, 40( 37): 9413– 9424 https://doi.org/10.1039/c1dt10902b
6
X H Lu, H Y Yuan, J Lei, J L Zhang, A A Yu, D Zhou, Q H Xia. Selective oxidation of cyclohexane to KA-oil with oxygen over active Co3O4 in a solvent-free system. Indian Journal of Chemistry, 2012, 51 : 420– 427
7
P R Makgwane, S S Ray. Efficient room temperature oxidation of cyclohexane over highly active hetero-mixed WO3/V2O5 oxide catalyst. Catalysis Communications, 2014, 54 : 118– 123 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catcom.2014.05.031
8
X Tan, X Wang, Q Liu, J Zhou, P Zhang, S Zheng, S Miao. Bio-gel template synthesis of CoFe2O4 nano-catalysts and application in aerobic oxidation of cyclohexane. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2017, 42( 30): 19001– 19009 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.05.072
9
M Wu, W Zhan, Y Guo, Y Guo, Y Wang, L Wang, G Lu. An effective Mn–Co mixed oxide catalyst for the solvent-free selective oxidation of cyclohexane with molecular oxygen. Applied Catalysis A, 2016, 523 : 97– 106 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcata.2016.06.001
10
H Yu, F Peng, J Tan, X Hu, H Wang, J Yang, W Zheng. Selective catalysis of the aerobic oxidation of cyclohexane in the liquid phase by carbon nanotubes. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2011, 50( 17): 3978– 3982 https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201007932
11
X R Niu, J Li, L Zhang, Z T Lei, X L Zhao, C H Yang. ZSM-5 functionalized in situ with manganese ions for the catalytic oxidation of cyclohexane. RSC Advances, 2017, 7( 80): 50619– 50625 https://doi.org/10.1039/C7RA10771D
12
K Wu, B Li, C Han, J Liu. Synthesis, characterization of MCM-41 with high vanadium content in the framework and its catalytic performance on selective oxidation of cyclohexane. Applied Catalysis A, 2014, 479 : 70– 75 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcata.2014.04.004
13
L Zhou, J Xu, C Chen, F Wang, X Li. Synthesis of Fe, Co, and Mn substituted AlPO-5 molecular sieves and their catalytic activities in the selective oxidation of cyclohexane. Journal of Porous Materials, 2006, 15( 1): 7– 12 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10934-006-9045-7
14
A A Alshaheri, M I M Tahir, M B A Rahman, T Begum, T A Saleh. Synthesis, characterisation and catalytic activity of dithiocarbazate Schiff base complexes in oxidation of cyclohexane. Journal of Molecular Liquids, 2017, 240 : 486– 496 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2017.05.081
15
Y Xie, F Zhang, P Liu, F Hao, H Luo. Synthesis and catalytic properties of trans-A2B2-type metalloporphyrins in cyclohexane oxidation. Canadian Journal of Chemistry, 2014, 92( 1): 49– 53 https://doi.org/10.1139/cjc-2013-0400
16
N V Maksimchuk, K A Kovalenko, V P Fedin, O A Kholdeeva. Cyclohexane selective oxidation over metal-organic frameworks of MIL-101 family: superior catalytic activity and selectivity. Chemical Communications, 2012, 48( 54): 6812– 6814 https://doi.org/10.1039/c2cc31877f
17
A Shahzeydi, M Ghiaci, H Farrokhpour, A Shahvar, M Sun, M Saraji. Facile and green synthesis of copper nanoparticles loaded on the amorphous carbon nitride for the oxidation of cyclohexane. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2019, 370 : 1310– 1321 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2019.03.227
18
N Imanaka, T Masui, K Jyoko. Selective liquid phase oxidation of cyclohexane over Pt/CeO2–ZrO2–SnO2/SiO2 catalysts with molecular oxygen. Journal of Advanced Ceramics, 2015, 4( 2): 111– 117 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40145-015-0138-0
19
N Sammah, M Ghiaci. Synthesis and characterization of oligomeric ionic liquid/heteropoly acid composite as a new heterogeneous catalyst through anion-exchange method for selective cyclohexane oxidation with molecular oxygen under solvent-free conditions. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 2017, 56( 38): 10597– 10604 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.7b03071
20
A F Masters, J K Beattie, A L Roa. Synthesis of a CrCoAPO-5 (AFI) molecular sieve and its activity in cyclohexane oxidation in the liquid phase. Catalysis Letters, 2001, 75( 3/4): 159– 162 https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016763224751
21
P Zhang, H Lu, Y Zhou, L Zhang, Z Wu, S Yang, H Shi, Q Zhu, Y Chen, S Dai. Mesoporous MnCeOx solid solutions for low temperature and selective oxidation of hydrocarbons. Nature Communications, 2015, 6( 1): 1– 10 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9446
22
Q Zhang, C Chen, M Wang, J Cai, J Xu, C Xia. Facile preparation of highly-dispersed cobalt-silicon mixed oxide nanosphere and its catalytic application in cyclohexane selective oxidation. Nanoscale Research Letters, 2011, 6( 1): 1– 7 https://doi.org/10.1186/1556-276X-6-586
23
H Huang, X Wang, E Tervoort, G Zeng, T Liu, X Chen, A Sologubenko, M Niederberger. Nano-sized structurally disordered metal oxide composite aerogels as high-power anodes in hybrid supercapacitors. ACS Nano, 2018, 12( 3): 2753– 2763 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.7b09062
24
X An, C Hu, H Lan, H Liu, J Qu. Strongly coupled metal oxide/reassembled carbon nitride/Co–Pi heterostructures for efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2018, 10( 7): 6424– 6432 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.8b01070
25
H Saravaia, H Gupta, P Popat, P Sodha, V Kulshrestha. Single-step synthesis of magnesium-doped lithium manganese oxide nanosorbent and their polymer composite beads for selective heavy metal removal. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2018, 10( 50): 44059– 44070 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.8b17141
26
S M Vickers, R Gholami, K J Smith, M J MacLachlan. Mesoporous Mn- and La-doped cerium oxide/cobalt oxide mixed metal catalysts for methane oxidation. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2015, 7( 21): 11460– 11466 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5b02367
27
L F Liotta, G D Carlo, G Pantaleo, G Deganello. Catalytic performance of Co3O4/CeO2 and Co3O4/CeO2–ZrO2 composite oxides for methane combustion: influence of catalyst pretreatment temperature and oxygen concentration in the reaction mixture. Applied Catalysis B, 2007, 70( 1-4): 314– 322 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2005.12.023
28
I C Silva, F A Sigoli, I O Mazali. Reversible oxygen vacancy generation on pure CeO2 nanorods evaluated by in situ raman spectroscopy. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2017, 121( 23): 12928– 12935 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b03155
29
G Wang, Y Meng, L Wang, J Xia, F Zhu, Y Zhang. Yolk-shell Co3O4–CoO/carbon composites for lithium-ion batteries with enhanced electrochemical properties. International Journal of Electrochemical Science, 2017, 12 : 2618– 2627 https://doi.org/10.20964/2017.04.73
30
J Mei, J Xie, Y Sun, Z Qu, N Yan. Design of Co3O4/CeO2–Co3O4 hierarchical binary oxides for the catalytic oxidation of dibromomethane. Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 2019, 73 : 134– 141 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiec.2019.01.016
31
L Li, F Chen, J Q Lu, M F Luo. Study of defect sites in Ce1−xMxO2−δ (x = 0.2) solid solutions using Raman spectroscopy. Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2011, 115( 27): 7972– 7977 https://doi.org/10.1021/jp203921m
32
D Li, B Cen, C Fang, X Leng, W Wang, Y Wang, J Chen, M Luo. High performance cobalt nanoparticle catalysts supported by carbon for ozone decomposition: the effects of the cobalt particle size and hydrophobic carbon support. New Journal of Chemistry, 2021, 45( 2): 561– 568 https://doi.org/10.1039/D0NJ04876C
33
W Zhou, K Huang, M Cao, F Sun, M He, Z Chen. Selective oxidation of toluene to benzaldehyde in liquid phase over CoAl oxides prepared from hydrotalcite-like precursors. Reaction Kinetics, Mechanisms and Catalysis, 2015, 115( 1): 341– 353 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11144-015-0833-4
34
P Burroughs, A Hamnett, A F Orchard, G Thornton. Satellite structure in the X-ray photoelectron spectra of some binary and mixed oxides of lanthanum and cerium. Journal of the Chemical Society, Dalton Transactions (Cambridge, England), 1976, 17( 17): 1686– 1698 https://doi.org/10.1039/dt9760001686
35
M Alexandrou, R M Nix. The growth, structure and stability of ceria overlayers on Pd (111). Surface Science, 1994, 321( 1-2): 47– 57 https://doi.org/10.1016/0039-6028(94)90025-6
36
G K Reddy, T C Peck, C A Roberts. CeO2–MxOy (M = Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu)-based oxides for direct NO decomposition. Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2019, 123 : 28695– 28706
37
L F Liotta, G D Carlo, G Pantaleo, A M Venezia, G Deganello. Co3O4/CeO2 composite oxides for methane emissions abatement: relationship between Co3O4–CeO2 interaction and catalytic activity. Applied Catalysis B, 2006, 66( 3-4): 217– 227 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2006.03.018
38
S A Abdullah, M Z Sahdan, N Nayan, Z Embong, C R C Hak, F Adriyanto. Neutron beam interaction with rutile TiO2 single crystal (111): Raman and XPS study on Ti3+-oxygen vacancy formation. Materials Letters, 2020, 263 : 127143 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2019.127143
B Wang, X Wang, L Lu, C Zhou, Z Xin, J Wang, X Ke, G Sheng, S Yan, Z Zou. Oxygen-vacancy-activated CO2 splitting over amorphous oxide semiconductor photocatalyst. ACS Catalysis, 2018, 8( 1): 516– 525 https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.7b02952
41
J Y Luo, M Meng, X Li, X G Li, Y Q Zha, T D Hu, Y N Xie, J Zhang. Mesoporous Co3O4–CeO2 and Pd/Co3O4–CeO2 catalysts: synthesis, characterization and mechanistic study of their catalytic properties for low-temperature CO oxidation. Journal of Catalysis, 2008, 254( 2): 310– 324 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2008.01.007
42
J Xu, G Lu, Y Guo, Y Guo, X Q Gong. A highly effective catalyst of Co–CeO2 for the oxidation of diesel soot: the excellent NO oxidation activity and NOx storage capacity. Applied Catalysis A, 2017, 535 : 1– 8 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcata.2017.02.005
43
S Akram, Z Wang, L Chen, Q Wang, G Shen, N Han, Y Chen, G Ge. Low-temperature efficient degradation of ethyl acetate catalyzed by lattice-doped CeO2–CoOx nanocomposites. Catalysis Communications, 2016, 73 : 123– 127 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catcom.2015.10.024
44
F L S Carvalho, Y J O Asencios, J D A Bellido, E M Assaf. Bio-ethanol steam reforming for hydrogen production over Co3O4/CeO2 catalysts synthesized by one-step polymerization method. Fuel Processing Technology, 2016, 142 : 182– 191 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2015.10.010
45
C Yuan, H G Wang, J Liu, Q Wu, Q Duan, Y Li. Facile synthesis of Co3O4–CeO2 composite oxide nanotubes and their multifunctional applications for lithium ion batteries and CO oxidation. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 2017, 494 : 274– 281 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2017.01.074
46
P Liu, K You, R Deng, Z Chen, J Jian, F Zhao, P Liu, Q Ai, H Luo. Hydrotalcite-derived Co–MgAlO mixed metal oxides as efficient and stable catalyst for the solvent-free selective oxidation of cyclohexane with molecular oxygen. Molecular Catalysis, 2019, 466 : 130– 137 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mcat.2019.01.019
47
S Wu, Y He, C Wang, C Zhu, J Shi, Z Chen, Y Wan, F Hao, W Xiong, P Liu, H Luo. Selective Cl-decoration on nanocrystal facets of hematite for high-efficiency catalytic oxidation of cyclohexane: identification of the newly formed Cl–O as active sites. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2020, 12( 23): 26733– 26745 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.0c06870
48
Y J Hao, B Liu, L G Tian, F T Li, J Ren, S J Liu, Y Liu, J Zhao, X J Wang. Synthesis of {111} facet-exposed MgO with surface oxygen vacancies for reactive oxygen species generation in the dark. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2017, 9( 14): 12687– 12693 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6b16856
49
J Liao, K Li, H Ma, F Dong, X Zeng, Y Sun. Oxygen vacancies on the BiOCl surface promoted photocatalytic complete NO oxidation via superoxide radicals. Chinese Chemical Letters, 2020, 31( 10): 2737– 274 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cclet.2020.03.081
50
H Yu, F Peng, J Tan, X Hu, H Wang, J Yang, W Zheng. Selective catalysis of the aerobic oxidation of cyclohexane in the liquid phase by carbon nanotubes. Angewandate Chemie-International Edition, 2011, 50 : 3978– 3982