Simultaneous fabrication of bifunctional Cu(i)/Ce(IV) sites in silica nanopores using a guests-redox strategy

Fabrication of bifunctional Cu(i)/Ce(iv) sites in mesoporous silica SBA-15 requires a series of complicated steps, including introduction of the Ce(iii) precursor, calcination to generate Ce(iv), further introduction of the Cu(ii) precursor, and repeated calcination to generate Cu(i). This traditional method has low efficiency and wastes energy. Here we provide a highly efficient, convenient and green strategy for the fabrication of bifunctional Cu(i)/Ce(iv) sites in mesoporous silica SBA-15, for the first time. The precursors CuCl₂ and CeCl₃ were simultaneously introduced into SBA-15. Based on a guests-redox strategy, both the reduction of CuCl₂ to CuCl and the oxidation of CeCl₃ to CeO₂ could be realized in one calcination step. This strategy avoids the repeated modification process, and guarantees a high Cu(i) yield of ∼59% without generation of toxic gas. In addition, the resultant materials show excellent performance in gas separation of C₂H₄ from C₂H₆.