High alkylation activities of ball-milled synthesized low-load supported iron oxide nanoparticles on mesoporous aluminosilicates

Low-load iron oxide nanoparticles on Al-SBA-15 prepared using a novel dry milling approach exhibited excelling activities in the microwave-assisted akylation of toluene with benzyl chloride (Lewis acids promoted reaction) and benzyl alcohol (Brönsted acids promoted reaction) as compared to the parent Al-SBA-15 and similar iron oxide nanoparticles supported on Al-MCM-41 materials. Materials prepared using the milling protocol possessed remarkably low iron loadings (<0.1 wt%) but featured highly accessible sites and small nanoparticle sizes that seemed to be related to the observed differences in activities in the systems.

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► The preparation of novel nanomaterials via ball milling and microwave irradiation.
► Materials with improved acidities due to the presence of supported iron oxide nanoparticles.
► Materials with high activities and reusabilities in the alkylation of toluene with benzyl chloride and alcohol both under conductive heating and microwave irradiation.