In situ S-doped Co@NC catalyst for efficient and selective catalytic hydrogenation of nitroarenes

Abstract

It is extremely ideal but also a challenge to develop stable and effective hydrogenation catalysts with high activity for the product of value-added fine chemicals. Herein, we report a in situ S-doped NC graphene-like shell encapsulated cobalt nanoparticles catalyst (Co@S-NC) for the hydrogenation of nitroarenes. The introduction of sulphur into NC graphene-like shell surface enhances the electron disturbance and promotes the electron transfer interior metal into external graphene-like shell, accompanying with triggering hydrogenation reaction. For Co@S-NC catalyst, the unusual coordination environment between Co NPs metal and NC graphene-like shell decreases limitation of the graphene-like layer and possesses an eminent catalytic activity and reusability. The Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that CoN3S1 within Co@S-NC, the center of S-doped NC graphene-like shell encapsulated cobalt nanoparticles, is an active site for the hydrogenation reaction and has a lower energy barrier 1.03 eV for the rate-determining step than CoN4 of Co@S-NC catalyst. These researches verify that the Co@S-NC, excellent graphitic carbon encapsulation material, manifests a wide application for increasing the catalytic activity of graphene-like shell embedded catalyst.