Three‐Dimensional Interconnected Porous Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon Hybrid Foam for Notably Promoted Direct Dehydrogenation of Ethylbenzene to Styrene

• Published in: ChemCatChem Vol. 11; no. 19; pp. 4830 - 4840
• Main Authors: Ge, Guifang, Liu, Hongyang, Zhao, Zhongkui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 07.10.2019
• Subjects: 3D interconnected structure; Ammonium chloride; ammonium chloride and freeze drying; Aqueous solutions; Carbon; Catalysis; Catalysts; combining strategy; Corrosion resistance; Dehydrogenation; dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene; Diamonds; Ethylbenzene; Melamine; Nanostructure; Nitrogen; porous nitrogen-doped carbon hybrid foam; Selectivity; Styrenes; Surface properties
• ISSN: 1867-3880; 1867-3899
• DOI: 10.1002/cctc.201901291

Owning to the high corrosion‐resistance, stable structure, unique surface properties and sustainability, the carbon‐base catalysts have attracted increasing interest in heterogeneous catalysis. Herein, we report a facile combining strategy to fabricate a novel three‐dimensional (3D) interconnected porous nitrogen‐doped carbon hybrid foam featuring with the interconnected nitrogen‐doped carbon foam coated by porous nitrogen‐doped carbon (NCMS@NCGlu‐NH4Cl) by annealing the freeze‐dried NH4Cl‐glucose containing aqueous solution soaked melamine sponge (MS@Glu/NH4Cl). The as‐prepared NCMS@NCGlu‐NH4Cl hybrid foam shows 1.6 times high steady‐state styrene rate (4.77 mmol g−1 h−1) with 96.4 % of selectivity for direct dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene as compared to the well‐established nanodiamond. This work not only generates an excellent carbon catalyst to replace the established nanodiamond for direct dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene, but also opens up a potential avenue for designing novel carbon materials towards the adsorption and supercapacitor besides acting as a promising catalyst for diverse transformations. Foam not diamond? Three‐dimensional interconnected porous nitrogen‐doped carbon hybrid foam has been successfully prepared by a facile combining strategy, in which each of melamine sponge, NH4Cl, glucose, and freeze‐drying operation is indispensable. The as‐synthesized hybrid foam showed shows 1.6 times high steady‐state styrene rate with 96.4 % of selectivity for dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene as compared to the well‐established nanodiamond.