Vanadia supported on mesoporous carbon nitride as a highly efficient catalyst for hydroxylation of benzene to phenol

Abstract

Mesostructured V/mp-C₃N₄ catalysts were prepared using NH₄VO₃ as a precursor and mesoporous carbon nitride as a support through a wet impregnation method. A series of techniques, including N₂ adsorption–desorption, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra, temperature-programmed desorption, etc., were employed to characterize physicochemical properties of the synthesized catalysts. In the hydroxylation of benzene to phenol in the presence of H₂O₂, the V/mp-C₃N₄ materials showed remarkable catalytic performance, affording a maximum phenol yield of 18% at 60 °C, superior to the previously reported C₃N₄-based catalytic systems in terms of their TOF values. The catalytic activity of V/mp-C₃N₄ is attributed to high benzene-activation capability of mp-C₃N₄ and dispersion of vanadia species.