Mesoporous carbon-supported cobalt catalyst for selective oxidation of toluene and degradation of water contaminants

Mesoporous carbon-supported cobalt (Co-MC) catalysts are widely applied as electrode materials for batteries. Conversely, the development of Co-MC as bifunctional catalysts for application in organic catalytic reactions and degradation of water contaminants is slower. Herein, the catalyst displayed high activity in the selective oxidation of toluene to benzaldehyde under mild conditions, attaining a high selectivity of 92.3%. Factors influencing the catalytic reaction performance were also investigated. Additionally, Co-MC displayed remarkable catalytic activity in degrading dyes relative to the pure metal counterpart. Moreover, the catalyst exhibited excellent reusability, as determined by the cyclic catalytic experiments. The paper demonstrates the potential of Co-MC as a bifunctional catalyst for both toluene selective oxidation and water contaminant degradation. (C) 2015 Chinese Society of Particuology and Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.