Base-free selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol in water over palladium catalyst supported on titanium niobate nano sheets

Background: Exploring catalysts with high-efficiency, stability and mild reaction conditions for oxidation of alcohols is an urgent task. In this work, a simple and efficient nanostructured catalyst system is developed, comprising homogenously dispersed Pd nanoparticles (NPs) with the average sized of 2.84 nm supported on titanoniobate nano sheets. Methods: The metal precursors are deposited onto the exfoliated TiNbO5 nano sheets through the electrostatic interaction and then reduced to nanoparticles by the UV irradiation. Selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol in ultrapure water was achieved with the as-prepared Pd-TNO under conditions of the base-free and atmospheric pressure with using air as an oxidant. Significant Findings: The results demonstrate that the catalyst exhibits excellent catalytic activity and selectivity in the aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde. Furthermore, the catalyst can be reused to five times without significant loss of performance. The nanostructure obtained with the exfoliation/restacking process favors the mass transfer and provides a unique nano reactor during the reaction. (C) 2021 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.