Phosphorus-modulated surface active center reconstruction in cerium oxide for polyols conversion into carbonates

Ionic liquids (ILs) can effectively regulate the surface morphology and acid-base sites of metal oxides, which is of great significance in the preparation of metal oxide nanomaterials. Here, cerium oxide (CeO2) was prepared in phosphonium-based ILs and P-doped CeO2 materials were obtained by doping phosphorous (P) on the surface of CeO2. Moreover, the yield and selectivity for ethylene carbonate (EC) synthesis catalyzed by CeO2 catalyst prepared were 77.26% and 95.99% respectively. The results indicated that an appropriate content of P could generate both Lewis acidic and basic sites related to P on the catalyst surface, and P-mediated frustrated Lewis acid-base pairs (FLPs) composed of P-OH as the basic center and Ce3+ as the acidic center was constructed. This work provides a new strategy for preparing novel CeO2 catalysts and regulating acid-base sites on the surface of that.