Highly ordered mesoporous TiO2-Fe2O3 mixed oxide synthesized by sol-gel pathway: an efficient and reusable heterogeneous catalyst for dehalogenation reaction.

Highly ordered two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal TiO(2)-Fe(2)O(3) mixed-oxide material MFT-1, which is composed of very tiny nanoparticles, is synthesized using sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) as a structure-directing agent. Interestingly, synthesis of an ordered mesophase was not possible using SDS as a template for mesoporous pure Fe(2)O(3) or TiO(2) phases. This mesoporous iron-titanium mixed-oxide material has been characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), N(2) sorption, ultraviolet-visible light diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS) studies. N(2) sorption analysis revealed high surface areas (126-385 m(2) g(-1)) and narrow pore size distributions (3.1-3.4 nm) for different samples. UV-vis DRS spectra and wide-angle powder XRD patterns indicate that the material is composed of α-Fe(2)O(3) and anatase TiO(2) phases. This TiO(2)-Fe(2)O(3) mixed-oxide material can act as a very efficient and reusable catalyst in the dehalogenation of aromatic chloride-, bromide-, and iodide-tolerating -F, -CN, -CH(3), -OCH(3) and -NO(2) functional groups in the aromatic ring using 2-propanol as the dispersion medium.