A high-performance Nb2O5-based catalyst for the cycloaddition of CO2 with SO is designed by properly unifying the concepts of compositional regulation and architectural engineering. The Co3O4/Nb2O5 composite catalyst shows an intriguing prickly spherelike morphology. It exhibits a high styrene carbonate (SC) yield of 94.3% within 4 h (0.0824 mol g-1 h-1) under mild reaction conditions (0.4 MPa of CO2 and a reaction temperature of 90 °C) assisted by tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB). The coupling of Co3O4, which chemically interacts with Nb2O5, can effectively modulate the electronic structures of Nb2O5, constructing abundant acid/base sites for effectively activating the reactants and boosting the intrinsic activity. The high activity, cost-effectiveness, and good recyclability make the tailor-made Co3O4/Nb2O5 prickly spheres more appealing for commercial applications. This work offers new insights into designing and constructing well-integrated metal oxide composites for the cycloaddition of CO2 with an epoxide.
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