Highly Ordered Mesoporous TiO2–Fe2O3 Mixed Oxide Synthesized by Sol–Gel Pathway: An Efficient and Reusable Heterogeneous Catalyst for Dehalogenation Reaction

Highly ordered two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal TiO2–Fe2O3 mixed-oxide material MFT-1, which is composed of very tiny nanoparticles, is synthesized using sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) as a structure-directing agent. Interestingly, synthesis of an ordered mesophase was not possible using SDS as a template for mesoporous pure Fe2O3 or TiO2 phases. This mesoporous iron–titanium mixed-oxide material has been characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), N2 sorption, ultraviolet–visible light diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–vis DRS) studies. N2 sorption analysis revealed high surface areas (126–385 m2 g–1) and narrow pore size distributions (3.1–3.4 nm) for different samples. UV–vis DRS spectra and wide-angle powder XRD patterns indicate that the material is composed of α-Fe2O3 and anatase TiO2 phases. This TiO2–Fe2O3 mixed-oxide material can act as a very efficient and reusable catalyst in the dehalogenation of aromatic chloride-, bromide-, and iodide-tolerating −F, −CN, −CH3, −OCH3 and −NO2 functional groups in the aromatic ring using 2-propanol as the dispersion medium.