Designing Materials for Aqueous Catalysis: Ionic Liquid Gel and Silica Sphere Entrapped Iron-TAML Catalysts for Oxidative Degradation of Dyes

Materials have been developed that encapsulate a homogeneous catalyst and enable it to operate as a heterogeneous catalyst in water. A hydrophobic ionic liquid within the material was used to dissolve Fe-TAML and keep it from leaching into the aqueous phase. One-pot processes were used to entrap Fe-TAML in basic ionic liquid gels, and ionic liquid gel spheres structured via a modified Stöber synthesis forming SiO2 particles of uniform size. Catalytic activity was demonstrated via the oxidative degradation of dyes. Fe-TAML entrapped in a basic ionic liquid gel exhibited consistent activity in five recycles. This discovery of heterogenized H2O2 activators prepared by sol-gel and Stöber processes opens new possibilities for the creation of engineered catalytic materials for water purification.