Dramatic enhancement of catalytic activity over transition metal substituted hematite

This paper reports the fabrication of hematite (α-Fe2O3) and its mixed oxides (α-Fe2−xO3Cux, α-Fe2−xO3Cox, α-Fe2−xO3Nix) by hydrothermal technique without using any surface directing agent or capping agent. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The synthesized catalysts were screening for epoxidation of cyclohexene and trans-stilbene. Cu based mixed oxide shows almost two-fold higher conversion than pure hematite. Although we have not got significant conversion, but the epoxidation of the above two substrate over the hematite and its mixed oxide is new-fangled.