Mechanochemistry as activation method of the Vsingle bondPsingle bondO catalysts for n-butane partial oxidation Original Research Article

The mechanochemical treatment of the Vsingle bondPsingle bondO catalysts caused a substantial increase of both the catalytic activity in n-butane oxidation and the selectivity towards maleic anhydride. It was accompanied by a relative growth of the contribution of vanadyl plane (001) of VOHPO4·0.5H2O which transforms into the topologically similar (100) plane of (VO)2P2O7. The mechanochemical treatment of the Vsingle bondPsingle bondO catalysts containing bismuth changes the sample morphology, favouring the formation of the vanadyl plane and provoking surface chemical reaction. The data obtained for Vsingle bondPsingle bondO/BiPO4 and Vsingle bondPsingle bondO/Bi2O3 samples demonstrate that mechanochemistry is a new promising method for the introduction of promoting additives into the basic Vsingle bondPsingle bondO composition.