Probe decorated porous silica and polymer monoliths as solid-state optical sensors and preconcentrators for the selective and fast recognition of ultra-trace arsenic ions

In this work, we manifested a new approach in designing solid-state colorimetric sensors for the selective optical sensing of As³⁺. The sensor fabrication is modulated using, (i) a cubic mesopores of ordered silica monolith, and (ii) a bimodal macro-/meso-porous polymer monolith, as hosting templates that are immobilized with a tailor-made chromoionophoric probe (DFBEP). The surface morphology and structural dimensions of the monolith templates and the sensor materials are characterized using p-XRD, XPS, FE-SEM-EDAX, HR-TEM-SAED, FT-IR, TGA, and BET/BJH analysis. The sensing components such as pH, probe content, sensor dosage, kinetics, temperature, analyte concentration, linear response range, selectivity, and sensitivity are optimized to arrive at the best sensing conditions. The silica and polymer-based monolithic sensors show a linear spectral response in the concentration range of 2-300 and 2-200 ppb, with a detection limit of 0.87 and 0.75 ppb for As³⁺, respectively. The real-time ion-monitoring propensity of the sensors is tested with spiked synthetic and real water samples, with a recovery efficiency of ≥99.1% (RSD ≤1.57%). The sensors act as both naked-eye optical sensors and preconcentrators, with a response time of ≤2.5 min. The molecular and photophysical properties of the DFBEP-As³⁺ complex are studied by TD-DFT calculations, using the B3LYP/6-31G (d,p) method.

Remarkably enhanced performance of the metathesis reaction of ethylene and 1-butene to propene using one-step prepared W-MCM-41 catalysts

Highly dispersed tungsten species with an isolated tetrahedral WO_x species structure are substantially beneficial for the metathesis reaction of ethylene and 1-butene to propene. The conventional impregnation method always leads to the formation of inactive crystalline WO₃ thereby notably decreasing the amount of active sites. In this study, we synthesized a highly dispersed W-MCM-41 catalyst using the one-step precipitation method with a Si/W ratio of 30. The prepared catalyst showed excellent catalytic performance with a 1-butene conversion of 92.7% and a propene selectivity of 80.8%. In contrast, the impregnated catalyst with the same W loading as the one-step precipitation method resulted in a much lower 1-butene conversion of 76.5% and propene selectivity of 34.1%. Various characterization techniques including XRD, XPS, ICP-OES, UV-vis DRS, TEM, and Raman spectroscopy were applied to confirm that the one-step precipitation method can efficiently prepare well-dispersed W-MCM-41 catalysts with the desired structure in spite of the fact that the ideal dispersive structure was strongly dependent of the Si/W ratio and stirring time of the reaction mixture of tungstic acid and TEOS. In addition, the introduction of an upstream catalyst onto the W-MCM-41 catalyst could not obviously improve the 1-butene conversion and propene selectivity, which might be due to fast 1-butene isomerization easily occurring on the abundant Si–OH of the W-MCM-41 catalyst. This work provides new insights for the design of metathesis catalysts and reaction processes to efficiently convert ethylene and 1-butene into propene.

The W-MCM-41 catalysts synthesized via one-step precipitation method showed the excellent activity and selectivity for the metathesis reaction of ethylene and 1-butene to propene.

SBA-15 as a Support for Effective Olefin Metathesis Catalysts

Olefin metathesis is the catalytic transformation of olefinic substrates, finding a wide range of applications in organic synthesis. The mesoporous molecular sieve Santa Barbara Amorphous (SBA-15) has proven to be an excellent support for metathesis catalysts thanks to its regular mesoporous structure, high BET area, and large pore volume. A survey of catalysts consisting of (i) molybdenum and tungsten oxides on SBA-15, and (ii) molybdenum and ruthenium organometallic complexes (Schrock and Grubbs-type carbenes) on SBA-15 is provided together with their characterization and catalytic performance in various metathesis reactions. The comparison with catalysts based on other supports demonstrates the high quality of the mesoporous molecular sieve SBA-15 as an advanced catalyst support.

Effects of calcination and pretreatment temperatures on the catalytic activity and stability of H2-treated WO3/SiO2 catalysts in metathesis of ethylene and 2-butene

The effects of calcination and pretreatment temperatures of the H2-treated WO3/SiO2 catalysts in metathesis of ethylene and 2-butene to propylene were investigated. The results showed that pretreatment with pure hydrogen over the non-calcined catalysts resulted in higher activity and stability than the calcined catalysts, and the hydrogen pretreatment temperature at 650 °C offered the highest 2-butene conversion and propylene selectivity. The calcination of the catalyst before hydrogen pretreatment was proved to be unnecessary. As revealed by various characterization results from N2 physisorption, XRD, TEM, UV-Vis, Raman, in situ H2-TPR, in situ NH3-DRIFTS and in situ NH3-TPD techniques, activity of the metathesis of ethylene and 2-butene to propylene was related to tungsten dispersion on the support, WO2.83 and WO2 phase composition, and isolated surface tetrahedral tungsten oxide species. The stability of the metathesis reaction was also related to the total acidity and the acid sites of both Brønsted and Lewis acid sites.

Metal-Incorporated Mesoporous Silicates: Tunable Catalytic Properties and Applications

A relatively new class of three-dimensional ordered mesoporous silicates, KIT-6, incorporated with Earth-abundant metals such as Zr, Nb, and W (termed as M-KIT-6), show remarkable tunability of acidity and metal dispersion depending on the metal content, type, and synthetic method. The metal-incorporation is carried out using one-pot synthesis procedures that are amenable to easy scale-up. By such tuning, M-KIT-6 catalysts are shown to provide remarkable activity and selectivity in industrially-significant reactions, such as alcohol dehydration, ethylene epoxidation, and metathesis of 2-butene and ethylene. We review how the catalytic properties of M-KIT-6 materials may be tailored depending on the application to optimize performance.

Self-metathesis of 1-butene to propene over SBA-15-supported WO3

Self-metathesis of 1-butene on SBA-15-supported WO₃ occurs via isomerization on Brønsted and Lewis acid sites and subsequent metathesis on Si–O–W–OH.