Acid-Resistant Catalysis without Use of Noble Metals:
Carbon Nitride with Underlying Nickel
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Abstract
A nanocomposite
able to function as a hydrogenation catalyst under
strongly acidic conditions without the presence of noble metals is
synthesized and thoroughly studied. This specially designed catalyst
possesses a unique structure composed of carbon nitride (CN) with
underlying nickel, in which the nickel endows the CN with new active
sites for hydrogen adsorption and activation while it itself is physically
isolated from the reactive environment and protected from poisoning
or loss. The CN is inert for hydrogenation without the help of nickel.
The catalyst shows good performance for hydrogenation of nitro compounds
under strong acidic conditions, including the one-step hydrogenation
of nitrobenzene in 1.5 M H<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub> to produce <i>p</i>-amoniophenol, for which the acid in the reaction system
has restricted the catalyst only to noble metals in previous studies.
Further characterization has demonstrated that the nickel in the catalyst
is in an electron-deficient state because some of its electron has
been donated to CN (HRTEM, PES); thus, the hydrogen can be directly
adsorbed and activated by the CN (HD exchange, in situ IR and NMR).
With this structure, the active nickel is protected by inert CN from
the corrosion of acid, and the inert CN is activated by the nickel
for catalytic hydrogenation. The assembly of them gives a new catalyst
that is effective and stable for hydrogenation even under a strongly
acidic environment