Mesoporous Zr@KIT-6 silicas: synthesis, characterization studies and catalytic application in the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide

H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) is an effective and environmentally friendly material, and many studies have been carried out to develop new and efficient materials in recent years. Mesoporous silicas, especially KIT-6, is one of them, but there are few studies about it and its derivatives. In this study, KIT-6 silicas were synthesized hydrothermally using Pluronic P123 as a surfactant and n-butanol as a co-solvent in a mildly acidic condition. The Zr@KIT-6 silicas, prepared with various Si/Zr ratios (1.25, 2.5, 5, and 10 wt%), possess a high specific surface area (739–780 m2/g). The synthesized materials were characterized by SEM, TEM, FT-IR, NH3-TPD, H2-TPR, ICP-OES, N2 adsorption–desorption, and XRD methods. The surface area of the materials decreased with the increase of zirconium content in Zr@KIT-6. The high quality of cubic la3d silica was evaluated by TEM. Zr has effective and excellent performance for the H2O2 decomposition reaction. The results also showed that Zr-based KIT-6 silicas were stable and reusable materials over H2O2 decomposition tests. All the materials were found to be active (63–91% conversion) in the decomposition of H2O2 under mild conditions.