Direct Hydroxylation of Benzene to Phenol over Vanadium Oxide Supported on Carbon Fibers Felt Containing Nitrogen

Direct hydroxylation of benzene is a stable and promising strategy for phenol synthesis. In this project, VO (12.5 wt%)/N-CFF catalyst was synthesized by VO-nitrogen doped carbon and supported on carbon fibers felt simultaneously. The synthesized catalyst was characterized by XPS, BET, FESEM, EDX-mapping, XRD, TEM, TGA, Raman, FT-IR, UV-Vis, ICP analysis. catalytic performance of VO (12.5 wt%)/N-CFF was also investigated in both thermal and photocatalytic oxidation reactions of benzene to phenol under optimal conditions. The selectivity of 100% was obtained. The yield of phenol product in thermal oxidation and photocatalytic oxidation of benzene were 18.9 and 16.82 respectively. In these reactions acetonitrile was used as solvent and hydrogen peroxide was used as oxidant. Optimal conditions for thermal oxidation of benzene, 50 mg catalyst, 80°C temperature, 6 h time, molar ratio of H ₂ O ₂ /Benzene 2, were obtained. The reaction was performed under 5 bar N ₂ pressure. Optimal conditions for photocatalytic oxidation of benzene, 50 mg catalyst, 65°C temperature, 4 h time, molar ratio of H ₂ O ₂ /Benzene 2 and distance of visible light to reaction dish 20 cm were obtained. The synthesized catalyst is a bulk catalyst based on eco-friendly support with high performance and recyclability and easy separation of reaction.