LAUSR

Abstract Highly ordered and rosebud like KIT-6 silica materials containing different amounts of vanadium phosphate have been synthesized using nonionic surfactant P123 as a structure-directing agent. The unique properties of KIT-6 such as three-dimensional cubic Ia3d symmetry, high surface area, large pore volume and large pore size enabled good dispersion of vanadium phosphorus oxide (VPO) species in crystalline form. The structure and morphology of the samples were systematically characterized by XRD, N 2 physisorption, SEM/EDX, elemental mapping, TEM, ICP-AES, UV–vis and FT-IR spectroscopy techniques. Various VPO loadings showed a clear influence on catalytic activity and selectivity. Within the studied range, the optimum conditions to improve toluene conversion and selectivity towards benzaldehyde over vanadium phosphorus oxide catalyst was performed in the presence of 17 wt% catalyst VPO-loading at 75 °C with 1:1.4 (toluene:H 2 O 2 ) molar ratio, in acetonitrile as the solvent. Under these reaction conditions, 17.76% toluene conversion and 69.24% selectivity for benzaldehyde were observed after 10 h of reaction time. Finally, the recyclability of the catalysts was studied through five consecutive catalytic runs.