Niobium-Incorporated Mesoporous Silicates for Selective Ethylene Epoxidation

Niobium incorporated mesoporous silicate materials show significant activity for ethylene epoxidation with H₂O₂ as oxidant at mild conditions, without CO₂ as byproduct. We demonstrate that base pretreatment dramatically enhances catalyst performance by mitigating both metal leaching and H₂O₂ decomposition, key hurdles confronting practical viability of these catalysts.