Project Title:

A comparative study of molybdenum and iron phosphate catalysts in n-hexane activation

Description:

The aim of this project is to synthesise 12-molybdophosphoric acid, H₃PMo₁₂O₄₀ (a heteropoly acid, refer to diagram below for the structure) and iron phosphate, FePO₄; promoters and counter ions (exchange H⁺ for other cations) are going to be introduced into the 12-molybdophosphoric acid. The catalysts are going to be characterised and tested for hexane activation. To make the study even more interesting, the catalytic behaviour of a mixture of H₃PMo₁₂O₄₀ and FePO₄ will be investigated.