Synthesis, characterization of bimetallic Sn-Zn-MCM41 and its catalytic performance in the hydroxylation of phenol

A series of Sn-Zn modified-MCM41 has been synthesized by direct hydrothermal method and characterized using ICP, XRD, TG/DTA, FT-IR, HRTEM and N_2-adsorption techniques. Catalytic performances of the obtained materials were evaluated in the hydroxylation of phenol with H₂O ₂. Results indicated that all the samples exhibited typical hexagonal arrangement of mesoporous structure with high surface area and the heteroatoms were probably incorporated into the framework of MCM41. Catalytic tests revealed that the bimetallic incorporated materials were effective catalysts in the hydroxylation of phenol. The conversion of phenol could be reach to 56.8% for the catalysts with Sn: Zn: Si = 2.69: 4.57: 100 (molar ratio) under the optimized reaction conditions. Moreover, the materials containing Sn and Zn exhibited higher catalytic activity than monometallic Sn and Zn modified MCM41.