Facile Preparation of Supported Copper-modified SBA-15 Catalysts for efficient Benzaldehyde Hydrogenation

A facile synthetic method was adopted to prepare heterogeneous organized mesoporous materials of copper-modified SBA-15 types catalysts; where SBA-15 is used as a matrix, and Cu nanoparticles as the catalytic active sites. The catalysts were prepared by two methods impregnation and hydrothermal at ratios Si/Cu= 20, and 60. The use of P123 copolymer in the synthesis of SBA-15 resulted in the formation of micro and mesoporous channels and the addition of copper led to a decrease in the volume of mesopores. The physicochemical characterizations confirmed the obtaining of the characteristic structure of mesoporous materials. The catalytic tests carried out in the catalytic gas-phase hydrogenation of benzaldehyde to benzyl alcohol revealed that copper-SBA-15 is highly active. The copper-based materials prepared by wet impregnation were found to be more active as catalysts compared to those prepared by the hydrothermal method. The excellent catalytic performance could be attributed to the well-dispersed catalytic copper nanoparticles over the mesoporous support. The presence of the well-dispersed and accessible CuO phase could facilitate the hydrogenation of benzaldehyde.