High-pressure hydrothermal synthesis of MoVTeNbOx with high surface V5+ abundance for oxidative conversion of propane to acrylic acid

A series of MoVTeNbOx-mixed metal oxides were synthesized by high-pressure hydrothermal method. The effects of temperature and time during the preparation process on the structure and catalytic performance of MoVTeNbOx were investigated. It was demonstrated that high content of M1 phase (94.5%) MoVTeNbOx with typical needle-shape morphology and high surface abundance of V5+ (68.9%) could be fabricated by high-pressure hydrothermal method in a short time (30–60 min) without hydrogen peroxide post-treatment. The catalytic results of propane selective oxidation showed that the MoVTeNbOx sample synthesized at 200 °C for 30 min possessed the highest surface V5+ abundance and largest proportion of terminating (001) plane, displaying the highest selectivity (74.1%) for acrylic acid. Moreover, the prepared MoVTeNbOx showed excellent stability in high temperature continuous reaction. [Display omitted] •MoVTeNbOx was fabricated facilely by high-pressure hydrothermal technology.•This developed method could shorten preparation time dramatically.•High content M1 phase MoVTeNbOx could be obtained without H2O2 post-treatment.•Synthesized MoVTeNbOx had high surface V5+ abundance of 68.9%.•As prepared MoVTeNbOx exhibited excellent catalytic performance.