RT Journal Article T1 Eco-Friendly Cavity-Containing Iron Oxides Prepared by Mild Routes as Very Efficient Catalysts for the Total Oxidation of VOCs A1 Sanchis, Rut A1 Alonso Domínguez, Daniel A1 Dejoz, Ana A1 Pico, María A1 Álvarez Serrano, Inmaculada A1 García, Tomás A1 López García, María Luisa A1 Solsona, Benjamín AB Iron oxides (FeOx) are non-toxic, non-expensive and environmentally friendly compounds, which makes them good candidates for many industrial applications, among them catalysis. In the present article five catalysts based on FeOx were synthesized by mild routes: hydrothermal in subcritical and supercritical conditions (Fe-HT, Few200, Few450) and solvothermal (Fe-ST1 and Fe-ST2). The catalytic activity of these catalysts was studied for the total oxidation of toluene using very demanding conditions with high space velocities and including water and CO2 in the feed. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (SEM and HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. It was observed that the most active catalyst was a cavity-containing porous sample prepared by a solvothermal method with a relatively high surface area (55 m2 g−1) and constituted by flower-like aggregates with open cavities at the catalyst surface. This catalyst displayed superior performance (100% of toluene conversion at 325 °C using highly demanding conditions) and this performance can be maintained for several catalytic cycles. Interestingly, the porous iron oxides present not only a higher catalytic activity than the non-porous but also a higher specific activity per surface area. The high activity of this catalyst has been related to the possible synergistic effect of compositional, structural and microstructural features emphasizing the role of the surface area, the crystalline phase present, and the properties of the surface. PB MDPI SN 1996-1944 YR 2018 FD 2018-08-09 LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/12625 UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/12625 LA eng NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) NO Universidad Complutense de Madrid/Banco de Santander NO Universidad de Valencia (UV) DS Docta Complutense RD 7 abr 2025