Vanadium-molybdenum phosphates supported by TiO2 for ethane oxidation to acetic acid:: a correlation between the local environment of vanadium and the reactivity

Different complementary physicochemical tools have been used to explain the improvement of the catalytic performances for ethane oxidation into acetic acid induced by the addition of molybdenum as phosphate to vanadium phosphate deposited on TiO2-anatase, at a coverage below the monolayer. Electron microscopy techniques have shown that the elements are dispersed on the support. Electron spin resonance, laser Raman and UV-visible spectroscopies have evidenced that the short range order around vanadium is modified by the presence of molybdenum. V-51 NMR has shown that molybdenum favours the octahedral symmetry of vanadium. The acidic properties of the catalyst are improved by the adding effect of molybdenum and by the addition of water. This should explain a better desorption of acetic acid and the improvement of the corresponding yield. This confirms the importance of the atomic environment of vanadium-based oxides to control the mild oxidation of light alkanes.