Titania-loaded coal char catalyst was successfully prepared. The preparation steps involved pyrolysis of low

rank coal at different temperatures and durations, sulfonation, impregnation of titanium(IV) isopropoxide, and then

heating at 110 °C. It is found that the coal chars’ surfaces were rough after sulfonation and impregnation, while large pore volume, high surface area and carbon composition were observed at low pyrolysis temperature for short duration. These properties contributed to high selectivity towards benzaldehyde (> 90%) at 600 °C (0.5–2 h)) in styrene oxidation using aqueous hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant.