Catalytic aerobic oxidation of ethylbenzene over Co/SBA-15

Co(II)O was highly dispersed in the mesopores of SBA-15 by alcoholic impregnation method and characterized by XRD, TEM, UV–VIS DRS, TPR, and XRF techniques. It was found that tetrahedral coordinated Co(II)O was stabilized by SBA-15 at low Co-loading. Co/SBA-15 showed much higher activity than Co(OAc)2 or Co3O4 in the liquid-phase aerobic oxidation of ethylbenzene under solvent-free condition.