Pore topology control of supported on mesoporous silicas copper and cerium oxide catalysts for ethyl acetate oxidation

• Highly dispersed CuO particles over ceria stabilized by interface layer.
• 3D-structure of KIT-6 facilitates the “intimate contact” between copper and ceria.
• KIT-6 support provides better catalytic activity even at high Cu/Ce ratio.

Copper and cerium bi-component modifications of KIT-6 were prepared by wetness impregnation technique from the corresponding nitrate precursors. Nitrogen physisorption, XRD, FTIR of adsorbed CO, UV–Vis, XPS and TPR were used for their characterization. The catalytic activity of the obtained materials was tested in ethyl acetate oxidation and compared to those achieved over SBA-15-supported catalysts. It was established that the interaction between copper and ceria species results in the formation of finely dispersed CuO nanoparticles on the ceria ones, which are stabilized by an interface layer of penetrated into the ceria lattice copper ions in different oxidative state. This process seems to be facilitated in the more opened 3D-structure of KIT-6, which provides better catalytic activity even at high Cu/Ce ratio than those observed for the SBA-15 modifications.

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