Ordered mesoporous tin oxide and tin phosphate synthesized by nanocasting strategy

Ordered mesoporous tin oxide and tin phosphate were successfully synthesized via two-step nanocasting route. The SBA-15 silica and CMK-3 carbon were used as hard templates. Powder X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption and transmission electron microscopy confirmed hexagonal mesoporous structure of resulted products. Mesoporous tin oxide indicated crystalline walls (cassiterite). The mesoporous products showed considerable catalytic activity in propan-2-ol decomposition. The tin oxide led the dehydrogenation towards acetone, while mesoporous tin phosphate exhibited activity of acid sites resulting in dehydration to propene.