Co/SBA-15 modified with TMB in the degradation of phenol

Abstract

Mesoporous materials like SBA-15 offer excellent properties such as catalyst support adsorbent due to its textural characteristics and their surface chemistry. The main objective of this study was to support cobalt (20 % w) in the type ordered mesoporous material SBA-15 and expand the pore size with the introduction of a "blowing agent", such as 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene (TMB), to be evaluated in the degradation of phenol. By its physicochemical characterization, it was confirmed that this is an ordered mesoporous material with two-dimensional hexagonal structure (p6mm) with high specific area, narrow pore distribution and typical morphology of this material. The pore size of SBA-15 has been extended to 19 nm by the addition of cosolvent organic molecules (TMB) and the particle size of cobalt decreased from 18.8 nm in SBA-15 to 6.4 nm on average by supporting it in SBA-15 modified with TMB; this property seems to confer the material be more selective in the conversion of CO2, which is the reason why it has greater activity for the degradation of phenol.