Fast and efficient reduction of nitroaromatic compounds with copper oxides supported nitrogen-sulfur Co-doped porous carbon material derived metal-organic framework

Abstract

The expansion of heteroatom-doped carbons with metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as precursors under heat treatment has attracted extensive attention for the betterment of the catalytic attributes of carbon-based catalysts. After simply pyrolyzing metal-organic framework (MOF) mixed with thiourea (CH4N2S) particles, N and S-doped porous carbon substrates with favorable structural and compositional properties are obtained. The as-synthesized material, which is named CuxO@CNS-400 acts as a heterogeneous catalyst in the reduction reaction of nitro-aromatic compounds, which has superior performance with high activity. The morphology, structure, and physicochemical properties of CuxO@NSC-400 were successfully synthesized and characterized using XRD, TEM, TGA, FE-SEM, EDX, FT-IR, and Raman. In particular, CuxO@CNS-400, obtained by pyrolysis at 400 °C, demonstrates excellent catalytic efficiency of 98 % and high catalytic cycling stability for rapid and highly efficient nitro aromatics reduction.