SELECTIVE OXIDATION; CATALYTIC PERFORMANCE; CARBON NANOTUBES; HIGHLY EFFICIENT; GAS-PHASE; DIMETHOXYMETHANE; NANOPARTICLES; TEMPERATURE; REDUCTION; TITANIA

iScience

2020, 23, 101157

SELECTIVE OXIDATION; CATALYTIC PERFORMANCE; CARBON NANOTUBES; HIGHLY EFFICIENT; GAS-PHASE; DIMETHOXYMETHANE; NANOPARTICLES; TEMPERATURE; REDUCTION; TITANIA

We demonstrate the nearly quantitative conversion of methanol to methyl formate (MF) with a reliable durability on the reduced-graphene-oxide-confined VTiOx nanoparticles ( rGO@VTiO). The rGO@VTiO exhibits superior low-temperature reactivity than the rGO-free VTiO, and the MF yield of 98.8% is even comparable with the noble metal catalysts. Both experiments and simulations demonstrate that the ultrathin rGO shell significantly impacts the shell/core inter facial electronic structure and the surface chemistry of the resultant catalysts,leading to remarkable reactivity in methanol to MF. rGO enhances the dispersion and loading rates of active monomeric/oligomeric VOx. In particular, the electron migration between the rGO shell and oxides core reinforces the acidity of rGO@VTiO in the absence of sulfate acidic sites. Moreover, both in situ NAP-XPS and DRIFTS investigations suggest that the lattice oxygen was involved in the oxidation of methanol and the MF was formed via the hemiacetal mechanism.