Facile synthesis and characterization of 12-tungstophosphoric acid anchoring MCM-41 mesoporous materials

• HPW–MCM-41 mesoporous materials were facilely prepared for the first time.
• Their catalytic activity for the green synthesis of benzoic acid was investigated.
• 10 wt% HPW–MCM-41 was approved to be the optimal catalyst under the reaction condition.

HPW–MCM-41 mesoporous materials were firstly prepared via introducing 12-tungstophosphoric acid (HPW) into MCM-41 with an open synthesis process. The characterization results indicated that the materials retained the mesoporous structure of MCM-41 and bulk HPW was highly dispersed into MCM-41. Catalytic tests showed that HPW–MCM-41 exhibited good catalytic properties for the oxidation of benzaldehyde to benzoic acid with aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution, in the absence of any organic solvent and co-catalysts. The sample containing 10 wt% HPW with larger surface area and pore volume was found to be more active than the others under the same reaction conditions.

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