Synergy effects in mixed Bi2O3, MoO3 and V2O5 catalysts for selective oxidation of propylene

In this work, the possible synergy effects between BiO, MoO and VO, and between BiMoO and BiVO, were investigated. The catalytic activity of the “mechanical mixture” of these compounds was measured. The mixture containing 36.96 mol% BiO, 39.13 mol% MoO and 23.91 mol% VO (21.43 mol% BiMoO and 78.57 mol% BiVO), corresponding to the compound BiVMoO with  = 0.45 (BiVMoO), exhibited the highest activity for the selective oxidation of propylene to acrolein. The mixed sample prepared chemically by a sol–gel method possessed higher activity than that of mechanical mixtures.