The vanadium-containing zirconia was synthesized by hydrothermal techniques.
As the concentration of EDTA and PH of the reaction solution increased, the vanadium-containing zirconia of rather uniform and small size was obtained. It seemed that vanadium in this phase was sited in zirconia framework and well dispersed.
It was observed that some of the vanadium ions in zirconia had oxidation state of +4. When as-synthesized vanadium-containing zirconia was calcined at 450°C to remove organic materials, vanadium ions of + 4 valence state were oxidized to + 5 valence state.
Toluene oxidation reaction over vanadium-containing zirconia of different prepertation was studied and the result was explained in terms of dispersion of vanadium.