Vanadium-containing saponite samples were synthesized in a one-pot synthetic procedure with the aim of preparing samples for potential application as fillers for polymeric composites. These vanadium-modified materials were prepared from an acid support by adopting a synthetic strategy that allowed us to introduce isolated structural V species (H/V-SAP). The physicochemical properties of these materials were investigated by XRD analysis and by DR-UV/Vis and FTIR spectroscopy of CO that was adsorbed at 100 K; these data were compared to those of a V-modified saponite material that did not contain any Brønsted acid sites (Na/V-SAP). The surface-acid properties of both samples (together with the fully acidic H-SAP material and the Na-SAP solid) were studied in the catalytic isomerization of α-pinene oxide. The V-containing solids were tested in the oxidative dehydrogenation reaction of propene to evaluate their potential use as flame-retardant fillers for polymer composites. The effect of tuning the presence of Lewis/Brønsted acid sites was carefully studied. The V-containing saponite sample that contained a marked presence of Brønsted acid sites showed the most interesting performance in the oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) reactions because they produced coke, even at 773 K. The catalytic data presented herein indicate that the H/V-SAP material is potentially active as a flame-retardant filler.
Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.