Heterogeneous oxidation of 2-octanol on 5 wt%Pt–1 wt%Bi/Carbon catalyst

The low activity of 5%Pt–1%Bi/Carbon for the oxidation of 2-octanol at atmospheric pressure and 343 K was investigated. Using solvents such as heptane and p-xylene, it was shown that the reaction rates decrease dramatically shortly after the start of the reaction due to poisoning by product adsorption. Hence this work investigates the effect of using different solvent mixtures on the oxidation reaction of 2-octanol with 5%Pt–1%Bi/Carbon. Mixtures with different volumetric ratios of heptane and dioxane were investigated to find the best composition capable of effectively removing the adsorbed amphiphilic ketone. It is apparent that the reaction rate is correlated with the adsorption coefficient of ketone on the catalyst, such that the maximum reaction rate occurs at the lowest ketone adsorption coefficient, corresponding to a concentration of 16–18%v/v dioxane. A model based on a Langmuir–Hinshelwood mechanism has been successfully fitted to the experimental rates.