Cobalt nanoparticles embedded in porous N-doped carbon support as a superior catalyst for the p-nitrophenol reduction

• Published in: Applied surface science Vol. 592; p. 153292
• Main Authors: Butova, Vera V., Polyakov, Vladimir A., Erofeeva, Elena A., Rusalev, Yury V., Gritsai, Maksim A., Ozhogin, Ilya V., Borodkin, Gennadii S., Kirsanova, Daria Yu, Gadzhimagomedova, Zaira M., Guda, Alexander A., Soldatov, Alexander V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.08.2022
• Subjects: 4-nitrophenol; Bimetallic; Cobalt; N-doped carbon; Nanoparticles; p-nitrophenol; Reduction; TGA; XANES; ZIF-67; Nanoparticles; Reduction; p-nitrophenol; 4-nitrophenol; XANES; Bimetallic; N-doped carbon; Cobalt; ZIF-67; TGA
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2022.153292

[Display omitted] •New catalyst with low Co-content and high activity was obtained.•Pure cobalt and bimetallic zinc/cobalt ZIF-67 were used as precursors.•Polyvinylidene fluoride was used to provide a porous carbon shell after annealing.•This shell promotes the p-nitrophenol catalytic reduction. We report the synthesis of a new effective cobalt-based composite for catalytic reduction of water pollutant - p-nitrophenol. ZIF-67 and its Zn-substituted analog have been used as precursors for the catalyst preparation. Their pyrolysis has resulted in cobalt nanoparticles embedded into N-doped carbon substrates. We have used polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) as an additive to ZIF-substrates to produce mesoporous carbon shells on the surface of the catalysts. We have found that PVDF-additive enhanced the catalytic properties of the obtained composite material. Firstly, this additive reduces the total cobalt concentration in the composite by increasing carbon content. Secondly, a porous carbon shell improves the rate of catalytic reactions. According to the experimental data, PVDF additive has allowed us to obtain materials with lower Co-content but with high catalytic activity towards p-nitrophenol reduction.