Operando XAS investigation of Cu-MOFs for liquid-phase cyclohexane/cyclohexene oxidation

This proposal aims to characterize a selected metal-organic framework (MOF), namely bipyridine modified UiO-67, containing exposed Cu cations by operando XAS during the liquid-phase oxidation of cyclohexane/cyclohexene to oxygenated products. The goal of the measurement is to investigate the oxidation state and the local structure of the metal site under operation at different reaction conditions. By performing an online assessment of the products’ amount and speciation, operando, we will uncover the complete structure-reactivity relationship, a key step to rationalise the reaction mechanism and propose modifications to improve next-generation catalysts.