Sol–gel synthesis and characterization of transition metal based mixed oxides and their application as catalysts in selective oxidation of propane

In this work binary and ternary mixed oxides containing Nb, V, Mo and Sb were prepared by a modified hydrolytic sol-gel technique and tested as catalysts for the selective oxidation of propane. All systems were active in the ODH of propane, with the appearance in some cases of oxygenated products. The best results as concerns the selectivity to acrylic acid (about 20%) have been obtained on ternary Mo-Nb-V oxide systems in the presence of Nb-Mo-O and V-Mo-O crystalline phases. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.