Ag nanoparticle incorporation in mesoporous silica synthesized by solution plasma and their catalysis for oleic acid hydrogenation

The incorporation of Ag nanoparticles on mesoporous silica as the supporting material and their catalysis for oleic acid hydrogenation were described in this study. The template removal and Ag nanoparticle incorporation were concurrently taken place in the novel glow discharge in a solution, namely solution plasma process under controlled conditions. With only 15 min of discharge time, Ag nanoparticles were incorporated on the mesoporous silica matrix confirmed by the evidences of XRD and TEM and the template inside mesopores was mostly removed confirmed by FTIR spectra. The hydrogenation catalysis of oleic acid was preliminarily tested using UV–VIS spectroscopy after oxidation using permanganate ions (MnO4−). It was found that the conversion was observed to be 12.83% in the butanol system and reached to 90.56% in ethanol.

Research Highlights
► SPP is a high efficient process for AgNP incorporation.
► SPP is a high efficient process for template removal.
► SPP is a one-step process for AgNP incorporation and template removal.
► AgNPs on mesoporous silica provide high activity for oleic acid hydrogenation.
► The 90.56% oleic acid conversion was obtained in the ethanol system.