Preparation of Porous Silicon by Sodiothermic Reduction of Zeolite and Photoactivation for Benzene Oxidation

Porous silicon with its high specific surface, prepared by a sodiothermic reduction method using zeolite ZSM-5 as the silicon precursor, has been used as an efficient photoactivator for direct oxidation of benzene to yield phenol in H2O2 solution under visible light irradiation. The surface oxidation of the porous silicon together with electron transition under the visible light irradiation acts on the benzene molecules, resulting in the generation of phenol molecules. By acid treatment the photoactivity of the used porous silicon is regained.