The intercalation behaviour of titanium(IV) (triethanolaminato)-isopropoxide (abbreviated as TEAIP) in a series of layered protonic metal oxides was investigated. Two novel inorganic-organic hybrid nanocomposites have been obtained.

A novel well-ordered super-microporous layered material, silica-pillared niobic acid, was synthesized by a guest-exchange route and structurally characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared absorption spectroscopy (IR), thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA), transmission electron micrographs (TEM), nitrogen adsorption method and ammonia-temperature-programmed desorption (NH3-TPD). The obtained silica-pillared layered niobic acid had a supergallery of 1.78 nm, a large BET surface area of 250 m2 g-1, and a high thermal stability exceeding 973 K.The pillared layered material was also found to be an efficient solid acid catalyst for the vapor-phase Beckmann rearrangement of cyclohexanone oxime. When 1-hexanol was fed with cyclohexanone oxime, this solid catalyst exhibited a 100% conversion of the oxime with a selectivity of e-caprolactam beyond 85% at a reaction temperature of 613 K and a WHSV of 0.17 h 1 in terms of cyclohexanone oxime, and there was no significant change of the conversion and selectivity within 6h.

The first chromia-pillared tetratitanate is prepared by the reaction of the layered tetramethylammonium-intercalated tetratitanate with an aqueous chromium (Ⅲ) acetate followed by calcination at 400℃. The new porous material has a specific surface area as high as 94 m2 g21 and an interlayer distance of 1.06 nm along with a moderately strong acidity. The layered nature of the pillared material may be retained above 600℃.

A series of silica-pillared layered titanoniobate supported copper catalysts (Cu/Si-TiNbO5) were prepared for the direct decomposition of NO. It was found that Cu/Si-TiNbO5 catalysts were highly active for the reaction of NO (0.1 vol.% in He) decomposition in the space velocity range of 3000–30,000 cm3 g−1 h−1. The 3.5 wt.% Cu/Si-TiNbO5 catalyst showed the highest conversion into N2 for NO decomposition. While 2.0 wt.% Cu/Si-TiNbO5 had the highest specific activity at low temperature (≤550◦C) and 1.0 wt.% Cu/Si-TiNbO5 showed the highest specific activity at high temperature (>550◦C). XRD and temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) results indicated that there existed well-dispersed copper oxide species and large copper oxide particles in the catalysts. Well-dispersed copper oxide species were reduced more easily than large copper oxide particles by H2. X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) and Auger electron spectra (AES) results revealed that Cu+ species existed in Cu/Si-TiNbO5 catalysts and that the copper oxide species in Cu/Si-TiNbO5 catalysts after used forNOdecomposition were different from those before the reaction.Well-dispersed copper oxide species were active for NO decomposition and the most active sites might be the dimeric copper oxide species over the support.

A 2 wt% copper catalyst supported on silica-pillared layered niobate (Cu/Si-Nb3O8) with a high hydrothermal stability was prepared and tested for the NO+CO reaction. Pretreatment with water vapor could improve the activity of the catalyst greatly, while the selectivity to N2 almost kept unchanged. The addition of water vapor (2 vol%) into the reaction gas could increase the activities of the catalyst without pretreatment and those pretreated by 2 vol% and 5 vol% stream, but reduce the activity of the catalyst pretreated by up to 10 vol% water vapor. Generally, water vapor in the reaction gas slightly reduced the selectivity to N2.