Mild ultrasound-assisted synthesis of TiO2 supported on magnetic nanocomposites for selective photo-oxidation of benzyl alcohol

• Simple synthesis of hybrid photocatalysts containing magnetic nanocomposites and titania.
• Selective and stable composite photocatalyst for liquid phase photocatalytic oxidation of benzyl alcohol.
• Sonication-based preparation of modern selective composite photocatalyst with magnetic properties for simple recovery.
• Advantages of combining magnetic filtration and photocatalysis for green chemistry synthesis.

A simple and effective ultrasound-assisted wet impregnation method was developed for the preparation of magnetically separable TiO2/maghemite-silica photo-active nanocomposites. The resulting nanomaterials were characterized by several techniques and subsequently tested for their photocatalytic activities in the liquid phase selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol. An unprecedented selectivity in organic media (90% in acetonitrile) towards benzaldehyde was achieved at a benzyl alcohol conversion of ca. 50%, being remarkably superior in terms of activity to any other supported transition metal catalysts reported to date as well as commercial titania Evonik P-25 photocatalyst.

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