Highly dispersed MoVTeNbO/SiO2 catalysts prepared by the sol–gel method for selective oxidation of propane to acrolein

Highly dispersed MoV0.3Te0.23Nb0.1O/SiO2 catalysts prepared by the sol–gel method show high activity and selectivity for the oxidation of propane to acrolein. The best result was obtained on the catalyst ((Mo + V + Te + Nb)/Si = 2 mol%) with 45.9% selectivity of acrolein at the propane conversion of 39.9%. The catalysts were characterized by BET, XRD, Raman, TPR and XPS. The results showed that the higher performance of the catalysts prepared by the sol–gel method might be facilitated by the higher specific surface, a better dispersion of the active species on the support, as well as a lower reduction peak temperature.