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Crystal‐Plane‐Controlled Selectivity of Cu 2 O Catalysts in Propylene Oxidation with Molecular Oxygen
Author(s) -
Hua Qing,
Cao Tian,
Gu XiangKui,
Lu Jiqing,
Jiang Zhiquan,
Pan Xiaorong,
Luo Liangfeng,
Li WeiXue,
Huang Weixin
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201402374
Subject(s) - acrolein , propylene oxide , catalysis , dodecahedron , selectivity , octahedron , chemistry , crystal (programming language) , oxide , inorganic chemistry , crystallography , crystal structure , materials science , organic chemistry , copolymer , polymer , ethylene oxide , computer science , programming language
The selective oxidation of propylene with O 2 to propylene oxide and acrolein is of great interest and importance. We report the crystal‐plane‐controlled selectivity of uniform capping‐ligand‐free Cu 2 O octahedra, cubes, and rhombic dodecahedra in catalyzing propylene oxidation with O 2 : Cu 2 O octahedra exposing {111} crystal planes are most selective for acrolein; Cu 2 O cubes exposing {100} crystal planes are most selective for CO 2 ; Cu 2 O rhombic dodecahedra exposing {110} crystal planes are most selective for propylene oxide. One‐coordinated Cu on Cu 2 O(111), three‐coordinated O on Cu 2 O(110), and two‐coordinated O on Cu 2 O(100) were identified as the catalytically active sites for the production of acrolein, propylene oxide, and CO 2 , respectively. These results reveal that crystal‐plane engineering of oxide catalysts could be a useful strategy for developing selective catalysts and for gaining fundamental understanding of complex heterogeneous catalytic reactions at the molecular level.