Novel sea urchin-like polyaniline microspheres-supported molybdenum catalyst: Preparation, characteristic and functionality

• Published in: Journal of molecular catalysis. A, Chemical Chemical, 2009-08, Vol.308 (1), p.25-31
• Main Authors: Ding, Hangjun, Wang, Ge, Yang, Mu, Luan, Yi, Wang, Yingnan, Yao, Xingxiong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Catalysis; Chemistry; Colloidal state and disperse state; Epoxidation; Exact sciences and technology; General and physical chemistry; Heterogeneous catalyst; Molybdenum; Physical and chemical studies. Granulometry. Electrokinetic phenomena; Polyaniline microspheres; Support; Theory of reactions, general kinetics. Catalysis. Nomenclature, chemical documentation, computer chemistry
• ISSN: 1381-1169; 1873-314X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.molcata.2009.03.038

By using sea urchin-like PANI hollow microspheres microspheres as support, a novel polymer-supported molybdenum catalyst was successfully produced. This catalyst was efficiently applied to the epoxidation of wide range of linear and cyclic alkenes. The special micro/nanoscale spherical morphology played an important role in the enhancement of catalytic activity. Novel heterogeneous molybdenum catalysts were successfully synthesized using sea urchin-like polyaniline (PANI) hollow microspheres constructed with their own oriented nanofibers arrays as support. This catalyst was successfully applied for efficient epoxidation of olefins using tert-butylhydroperoxide (TBHP) as oxidant. The catalytic activity of the PANI microspheres-supported catalysts (95% conversion) was found to be higher than that observed for its corresponding homogenous catalyst (85% conversion) and the conventional PANI-supported catalyst (65% conversion). The immobilized catalyst showed a stable catalytic activity in manifold reuses. It was found that the special micro/nanoscale spherical morphology plays an important role for the enhancement of activities of the polymer-supported heterogeneous catalyst.