In-situ reduced ultrathin molybdenum oxide nanorods-Au heterojunction for boosted catalytic oxidation performance of cyclohexane

The production of cyclohexane oxidation to cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone (KA oil) in the chemical industry is still constrained by low conversion, low selectivity, and drastic reaction conditions. To address this, we have developed MoO3-x ultrafine nanorods-Au nanoparticles composite by in situ uniform growth for the boosted photocatalytic oxidation of cyclohexane. The resulting MoO3-x-Au Schottky heterojunction possesses significantly improved catalytic performance in cyclohexane oxidation, achieving a conversion rate of 9.99% and the KA oil selectivity of 96.37%. Using the Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) method, we interpreted the enhanced electric field distribution of the composite. Moreover, the photocatalytic mechanism was validated by H2O2 production and in-situ FTIR characterization. The adsorption experiments validated that the high selectivity of KA oil is originated from the superior adsorption capability of MoO3-x-Au for cyclohexane over cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone. Our study showcases the potential of MoO3-x ultrafine catalysts in the green synthesis of industrial organic chemical products.