Abstract
Chromium was incorporated in the framework of TUD-1 mesoporous silica by a one-pot synthesis procedure, using triethanolamine as a bi-functional template. The Cr-TUD-1 catalyst was characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, UV–vis and Raman spectroscopy, as well as elemental analysis and N
2 sorption measurements. The results indicate that chromium is incorporated as tetrahedrally co-ordinated Cr
6+ in the framework of TUD-1. When tested as a catalyst for the photo-oxidation of propane, Cr-TUD-1 showed high activity and high selectivity towards acetone under visible light irradiation (
λ
=
435
nm).