Regenerating Spent Solutions of Vanadium‐containing Heteropoly Acids in the Presence of Additives

Vanadium‐containing heteropoly acid solutions of Keggin H_3+xPMo_12–xV_xO₄₀ and modified H_aP_zMo_yV_xO_b types (P‐Mo‐V HPAs) are promising nanosized inorganic metal‐oxygen cluster compounds with the property of reversible oxidability (V^V ↔ V^IV). The oxidation of reduced P‐Mo‐V HPAs at a temperature of 130–170 °C and an oxygen pressure of 4 atm is a convenient method for their regeneration, but results in regeneration degree of only 75–88 %. Various materials with electron transfer or oxidative properties, such as nitrogen doped carbon nanofibers (N‐CNFs), Sibunit‐4, HNO₃, and MoO₂, were investigated as additives to facilitate and accelerate the regeneration of HPA solutions. Among the studied additives HNO₃ was found to show the best efficiency, resulting in regeneration degree of higher 95 %. Rapid and efficient regeneration of spent HPA catalysts is an important criterion for achieving high productivity and sustainability of oxidative processes on their basis.