Influence of heat treatment on catalytic performance of Co–N–C/SiO2 for selective oxidation of ethylbenzene

•Co–N–C/SiO2 catalysts prepared through supported metalloporphyrin.•Formation of Co–N–C on the surface of SiO2 via heat treatment.•High activity for ethylbenzene oxidation achieving over Co–N–C/SiO2 catalyst heated at 500 °C.•Well-dispersed Co–N–C acting as active centers for the activation of C–H bonds.•Co–N4–C sites responsible for the high catalytic activity.

The effect of heat treatment on the Co–N–C/SiO2 catalysts prepared through supported metalloporphyrin has been investigated for selective oxidation of ethylbenzene. And techniques such as BET, XRD, FT-IR, UV–vis, TEM, TG–DTA and XPS are used to explore the relationship between heat temperature and the catalytic performance of the catalysts. The results show that Co–N–C/SiO2 catalyst heated at 500 °C exhibits much higher activity for ethylbenzene oxidation compared with its counterparts such as Co–N–C/SiO2 catalysts heated at 300 °C, 400 °C, 600 °C and 700 °C, respectively. This may be attributed to the formation of much more Co–N4–C active sites on the surface of Co–N–C/SiO2 catalyst heated at 500 °C.

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