Synthesis, Characterization and Catalytic Application of PVP-Stabilized Pd Nanohybride Using Mesocellular Silica Foam (MCF) as a Sacrificial Template for the Selective Oxidation of Toluene to Benzyl Alcohol

In this work, fully organic mesocellular polymer nanohybrids with uniform cellular pores were synthesized via a hard-templating strategy using mesocellular silica foam (MCF) as a sacrificial template. The resulting mesocellular poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (PVP) was subsequently employed as a robust support for finely dispersed Pd nanoparticles (Pd–PVP). The catalyst was comprehensively characterized by XRD, FT-IR, N₂ adsorption–desorption (BET/BJH), TG, SEM, UV–Vis, and TEM analyses. The catalytic performance of Pd–PVP was evaluated in the selective oxidation of toluene to benzyl alcohol under green conditions using aqueous H₂O₂ as oxidant. Under the optimized conditions (H₂O as solvent, K₂CO₃ as base, mild temperature, and low Pd loading), the catalyst showed high conversion and excellent selectivity to benzyl alcohol with negligible over-oxidation. The Pd–PVP catalyst could be readily separated and reused for at least eight consecutive cycles without significant loss of activity or Pd leaching.