Valence-mixed CuOx-nanoparticles anchored biomass-based carbon nanofiber for boosting toxic nitroarenes reduction: Synthesis, kinetics, and mechanisms
Longlong Geng, Su Yeoung An, Xiaoli Wang, Jianbing Chen, Zhongmin Liu, Xiuling Zhang, Da‐Shuai Zhang, Yong‐Zheng Zhang, Thomas Wågberg, Guangzhi Hu
Abstract
The rational modulation of metal catalysts with tailorable valence and redox properties is a promising strategy for further improving their catalytic performance. Herein, an environment-friendly grafting and thermal strategy was adopted to immobilize copper oxides nanoparticles on carbon nanofiber (CuOx/CF). Benefiting from the defect-rich surface and valence-mixed composition of the CuOx species, the optimized sample CuOx/CF-3 exhibits superb activity for the catalytic reduction of toxic nitrophenols. The complete conversion took only 1 min and an outstanding rate constant (k) of 112.7 × 10˗3 s˗1 was achieved under mild conditions (25 °C and 1 atm). Kinetic and recycle experiments demonstrated that the whole catalytic process obeys a pseudo-order kinetic, and the catalyst could maintain high conversion even after 13 successive recycles. These results demonstrate that CuOx/CF-3 is an alternative catalyst to noble metals, providing superb catalytic efficiency and stability in the reduction of toxic nitrophenols, and it can be expanded to develop other noble-metal-free catalysts for various applications.