Mesoporous
Co3O4 nanostructures, templated
from different mesoporous silicas, SBA-3, SBA-5, and SBA-16, were
used as catalysts for the liquid-phase selective oxidation of benzyl
alcohol using molecular oxygen as the oxidant. The nanostructured
Co3O4-16, templated from SBA-16, showed the
best activity for the reaction, with 97.5% benzyl alcohol conversion
and 100% benzaldehyde selectivity obtained after 3 h of reaction at
100 °C. This could be attributed to its large number of oxygen
vacancies and low surface Co3+/Co2+ ratio that
were beneficial to O2 activation, together with its three-dimensional
nanostructure that facilitated the adsorption of benzyl alcohol, compared
to Co3O4-3 and Co3O4-15.
The material could be reused without losing activity if the organics
adsorbed on the surface of the used sample were removed by calcination
at 300 °C for 1 h. A mechanism for the reaction was proposed,
considering that the activation of molecular oxygen was the rate-determining
step of the reaction.