New mesoporous silicotitaniumphosphate and its application in acid catalysis and adsorption of As(III/V), Cd(II) and Hg(II)

A new mesoporous silicotitaniumphosphate material has been synthesized by using a non-conventional phosphorous source trimethyl phosphite with the aid of Pluronic F127 as structure directing agent (SDA). The mesopores are generated due to the slow hydrolysis of the reactant materials in the presence of supramolecular-assembly of non-ionic surfactant under the evaporation induced self-assembly (EISA) process. The material has been characterized by powder XRD, N2 sorption, TEM, SEM–EDS, TG–DTA, FT-IR, XPS, 29Si, 31P MAS NMR and UV–vis spectroscopic techniques. This new mesoporous material has considerably high BET surface area (379 m2 g−1) and narrow pore size distribution with a peak pore width of 5.4 nm. The material showed good catalytic activity in the liquid phase Friedel–Crafts benzylation reaction suggesting strong acidity on its surface. It can also be used as good adsorbent for the removal of toxic metal ions As(III/V), Cd(II) and Hg(II) from the contaminated water.

A new mesoporous silicotitaniumphosphate material has been synthesized by using Pluronic F127 as template, which showed high catalytic activity in Friedel–Craft benzylation reactions and absorption of As(III/V) and Hg(II).Figure optionsDownload high-quality image (129 K)Download as PowerPoint slide