Cyclohexanol dehydrogenation over Cu-loaded TiO2 photocatalyst under solar illumination

• Published in: Research on chemical intermediates Vol. 37; no. 8; pp. 1069 - 1086
• Main Authors: Srinivas, Basavaraju, Lalitha, Kannekanti, Anil Kumar Reddy, Police, Rajesh, Gajeelli, Durga Kumari, Valluri, Subrahmanyam, Machiraju, De, Bhudev Ranjan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-10-2011
• Subjects: Catalysis; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Inorganic Chemistry; Physical Chemistry; Cyclohexanone; Cyclohexanol; Copper oxide; Dehydrogenation; Titanium dioxide
• ISSN: 0922-6168; 1568-5675
• DOI: 10.1007/s11164-011-0315-x

The liquid-phase selective dehydrogenation of cyclohexanol has been investigated using two classes of catalyst containing either Cu
2
O or CuO on TiO
2
under solar light in deaerated conditions at room temperature using acetonitrile medium in a batch reactor. The effect on dehydrogenation of three conditions, cyclohexanol concentration, copper loading on TiO
2
, and amount of catalyst, were investigated. The maximum yield of cyclohexanone obtained was 40%. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, UV–DRS, TEM, SEM–EDAX, and XPS. It was found that 1% (
w
/
w
) Cu
2
O/TiO
2
was 100% selective for photocatalytic dehydrogenation of cyclohexanol.
Graphical Abstract