Acid–base properties of Cu1−xCoxFe2O4 ferrospinels: FTIR investigations

Abstract

Systematic IR spectroscopic studies were undertaken to investigate the acid–base properties of Cu–Co ferrospinels Cu_1−xCo_xFe₂O₄ (x = 0 to 1) employed in phenol methylation to produce 2,6-xylenol. The IR spectra of the ferrospinels reveal that Fe³⁺ and Co²⁺ ions are mainly responsible for the various hydroxy groups on the surface. Temperature dependent IR studies of pyridine adsorbed on spinels and on the spinel phase with deliberately added metal oxide exemplify the contribution of the metal ions and their coordination state towards Lewis acidity. IR studies of the spinel surface with adsorbed CO₂ and adsorption studies of electron acceptors such as 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane, 2,3,5,6-tetrachloro-1-4-benzoquinone and p-dinitrobenzene were carried out to evaluate the nature of the basic sites and the strength and distribution of the electron donor sites present on the spinel surface. It was found that the acidity (basicity) of the Cu_1−xCo_xFe₂O₄ spinel system increases (decreases) from x = 0 to 1. A correlation between acidity, basicity and catalytic performance reveals that an intermediate acid–base character enhances the phenol methylation activity.