Thallium-containing
mixed vanadium and molybdenum oxides have been
synthesized using a microwave-assisted hydrothermal method. The pH,
the nature of the metal precursors, and the use of a structuring agent
were shown to be key parameters of the synthesis; depending upon these
parameters, trigonal (Tri) or orthorhombic (M1) structures were obtained.
Both structures have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD)
and scanning and transmission electron microscopies (SEM and TEM,
respectively). The orthorhombic phase has lattice parameters of a = 2.108 nm, b = 2.656 nm, c = 0.3997 nm and space group Pba2, and the trigonal
phase, lattice parameters of a = 2.143 nm, c = 0.4004 nm and space group P3. In the
orthorhombic phase, both hexagonal and heptagonal channels are partially
but consistently occupied by thallium cations. The trigonal phase
also exhibited both hexagonal and heptagonal channels; hexagonal channels
were occupied by thallium cations, whereas the heptagonal channels
appeared almost empty. The catalytic properties of the solids have
been studied for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane and the oxidation
of propene to acrylic acid. The orthorhombic phase was inactive; the
trigonal phase, while not very active, had a high selectivity to ethylene.
Although the occupancy rate of the heptagonal sites is probably low
in the later phase, it strongly attenuates its activity.