Macroporous vanadium phosphorus oxide phases displaying three-dimensional arrays of spherical voids

Macroporous vanadium phosphorus oxide (VPO) phases with remarkable compositional, structural, and morphological properties have been synthesized employing monodisperse polystyrene sphere arrays as a template. Colloidal polystyrene spheres were ordered into close-packed arrays by sedimentation or centrifugation. Depending on the choice of VPO sources and the template removal method, various crystalline VPO phases were obtained. The macroscale-templated synthesis produced VPO phases with unprecedented high surface areas (75 m(2)/g); desirable macroporous architecture; optimal bulk compositions (P/V approximate to 1.1); desirable vanadium oxidation states (4.1-4.4); and preferential exposure of the surface (100) planes Of VO2P2O7, the proposed active and selective phase for the partial oxidation of n-butane.