Effect of calcination temperature on the structure of copper orthophosphates and their catalytic activity in the decomposition of 2-propanol

Libethenite cu2(po4)(oh) was simply synthesized by heterogeneous reaction using a mixture of cu(no3)2·6h2o,(nh4)2hpo4 and water at room temperature for 60 min. the thermogravimetric study indicates that the synthesized compound is stable below 250°c and its final decomposed product is cu3(po4)2. the pure monoclinic phases of the synthesized cu2(po4)(oh) and its final decomposed product cu3(po4)2 are verified by xrd technique. the presence of oh- ion and h2o molecule in the structure cu2(po4)(oh) and the po4 3- ion into cu3(po4)2 structure are confirmed by ftir technique. the decomposition test of isopropanol shows that the copper orthophosphate cu3(po4)2 catalysts have a strong propene selectivity,thus indicating the prevalence of acid sites. the thermal stability,the morphology based on libethenite cu2(po4)(oh) and acidity surface structure cu3(po4)2of the studied compounds may affect their activities for potential applications in catalysis. © 2016.