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Abstract

Manganese hexacyanidocobaltate(III) nanostructures have been synthesized using double decomposition method and characterized in terms of CHNS analysis, atomic absorption spectroscopy, thermal analysis, infrared spectral studies and transmission electron microscopic technique. The transmission electron microscopic image of the synthesized material showed that it is consisting of roughly spherical shaped particle with size range of 30-60 nm. The catalytic activity of the synthesized material was studied for the oxidation of benzyl alcohol, using H2O2 as oxidant, under solvent-free conditions. The characterization of the oxidation product of benzyl alcohol and its quantitative estimation was done using gas chromatography. The synthesized material was found to be an effective heterogeneous catalyst with a high selectivity towards benzaldehyde as the oxidation product. It showed 31% conversion of benzyl alcohol under the optimized conditions of various reaction parameters, namely, amount of catalyst, reaction temperature, benzyl alcohol to H2O2 molar ratio and the reaction time.