CeO2 nanoparticles supported on 2D nanostructured layered double hydroxide as a nanocatalyst: Facile synthesis, characterization and catalytic activity

The oxidation of cyclohexane employing tert-butyl hydroperoxide provides an appealing alternative to the present commercial method of manufacturing cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol (KA oil), which are important ingredients in the manufacture of nylon. CeO2 nanoparticles supported on 2D nanostructured layered double hydroxide nanocatalyst were developed as an effective, stable, and reusable heterogeneous catalyst for the selective aerobic oxidation of cyclohexane to KA-oil in this work. The resultant material was characterized using a variety of physical techniques, including ICP-AES, XRD, FTIR, SEM, EDX, TEM, TGA, and BET surface area analysis. A maximum conversion of 38.91% was achieved with 97.69% KA oil selectivity using CeO2-NPs@LDH nanocatalyst after 6 h at 353 K. Furthermore, the hot filtration test demonstrated that CeO2-NPs@LDH was a heterogeneous catalyst that could be recycled at least five times without significant loss of catalytic activity.