Highly selective oxidation of styrene to benzaldehyde over a tailor-made cobalt oxide encapsulated zeolite catalyst

A tailor-made catalyst with cobalt oxide particles encapsulated into ZSM-5 zeolites (Co₃O₄@HZSM-5) was prepared via a hydrothermal method with the conventional impregnated Co₃O₄/SiO₂ catalyst as the precursor and Si source. Various characterization results show that the Co₃O₄@HZSM-5 catalyst has well-organized structure with Co₃O₄ particles compatibly encapsulated in the zeolite crystals. The Co₃O₄@HZSM-5 catalyst was employed as an efficient catalyst for the selective oxidation of styrene to benzaldehyde with hydrogen peroxide as a green and economic oxidant. The effect of various reaction conditions including reaction time, reaction temperature, different kinds of solvents, styrene/H₂O₂ molar ratio and catalyst dosage on the catalytic performance were systematically investigated. Under the optimized reaction condition, the yield of benzaldehyde can achieve 78.9% with 96.8% styrene conversion and 81.5% benzaldehyde selectivity. Such an excellent catalytic performance can be attributed to the synergistic effect between the confined reaction environment and the proper acidic property. In addition, the reaction mechanism with Co₃O₄@HZSM-5 as the catalyst for the selective oxidation of styrene to benzaldehyde was reasonably proposed.

Metallic cobalt nanoparticles imbedded into ordered mesoporous carbon: A non-precious metal catalyst with excellent hydrogenation performance

Ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC)-metal composites have attracted great attention owing to their combination of high surface area, controlled pore size distribution and physicochemical properties of metals. Herein, we report the cobalt nanoparticles/ordered mesoporous carbon (CoNPs@OMC) composite prepared by a one-step carbonization/reduction process assisted by a hydrothermal pre-reaction. The CoNPs@OMC composite presents a high specific surface area of 544m²g^-1, and the CoNPs are uniformly imbedded or confined in the ordered mesoporous carbon matrix. When used as a non-precious metal-containing catalyst for hydrogenation reduction of p-nitrophenol and nitrobenzene, it demonstrates high efficiency and good cycling stability. Furthermore, the CoNPs@OMC composite can be directly used to catalyze the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis for the high-pressure CO hydrogenation, and presents a good catalytic selectivity for C₅⁺ hydrocarbons. The excellent catalytic performance of the CoNPs@OMC composite can be ascribed to synergistic effect between the high specific surface area, mesoporous structure and well-imbedded CoNPs in the carbon matrix.