Ag/SiO2- and Ag/Co3O4-Based Monolithic Flow Microreactors for Hydrogenation of Dyes: Their Activity and Stability

Silver nanoparticles supported on hierarchically porous silica and cobalt oxide monoliths have previously been shown to be catalytically active for the hydrogenation of common organic dyes in batch studies. This work presents a detailed investigation of the activity and stability of these monoliths during the hydrogenation of eosin-Y in a continuous flow microreactor. The silver-containing monoliths showed excellent catalytic activity that reached a plateau after a period of approximately 6 h. From SEM particle size distribution studies of the catalysts before and after water and hexane were flowed through them, it was determined that under reaction conditions, silver was removed both by washing off of particles and by dissolution of silver.