Highly efficient CoOx/SBA-15 catalysts prepared by atomic layer deposition for the epoxidation reaction of styrene

Abstract

Co-based catalysts have been widely studied for the epoxidation reaction of styrene. Herein, we directly introduced CoO_x species into SBA-15 by atomic layer deposition (ALD). The CoO_x/SBA-15 catalysts exhibit remarkably higher activity and selectivity in epoxidation of styrene than the catalyst prepared by incipient wetness impregnation. This is due to the fact that CoO_x nanoclusters were produced by ALD and uniformly dispersed in SBA-15. Furthermore, before the CoO_x ALD process, an ultrathin TiO₂ layer was coated onto SBA-15 firstly by ALD to modify the active species–support interaction precisely. The obtained catalysts show improved selectivity and stability compared to the unmodified catalysts. This is due to the appropriate interaction between the CoO_x and support.