Hierarchical ZIF-decorated nanoflower-covered 3-dimensional foam for enhanced catalytic reduction of nitrogen-containing contaminants

Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) represent a promising class of metallic catalysts for reduction of nitrogen-containing contaminants (NCCs), such as 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). Nevertheless, most researches involving MOFs for 4-NP reduction employ noble metals in the form of fine powders, making these powdered noble metal-based MOFs impractical and inconvenient for realistic applications. Thus, it would be critical to develop non-noble-metal MOFs which can be incorporated into macroscale and porous supports for convenient applications. Herein, the present study proposes to develop a composite material which combines advantageous features of macroscale/porous supports, and nanoscale functionality of MOFs. In particular, copper foam (CF) is selected as a macroscale porous medium, which is covered by nanoflower-structured CoO to increase surfaces for growing a cobaltic MOF, ZIF-67. The resultant composite comprises of CF covered by CoO nanoflowers decorated with ZIF-67 to form a hierarchical 3D-structured catalyst, enabling this ZIF-67@Cu foam (ZIF@CF) a promising catalyst for reducing 4-NP, and other NCCs. Thus, ZIF@CF can readily reduce 4-NP to 4-AP with a significantly lower E_a of 20 kJ/mol than reported values. ZIF@CF could be reused over 10 cycles and remain highly effective for 4-NP reduction. ZIF@CF also efficiently reduces other NCCs, such as 2-nitrophenol, 3-nitrophenol, methylene blue, and methyl orange. ZIF@CF can be adopted as catalytic filters to enable filtration-type reduction of NCCs by passing NCC solutions through ZIF@CF to promptly and conveniently reduce NCCs. The versatile and advantageous catalytic activity of ZIF@CF validates that ZIF@CF is a promising and practical heterogeneous catalyst for reductive treatments of NCCs.

Synthesis of ultrafine Co/CoO nanoparticle-embedded N-doped carbon framework magnetic material and application for 4-nitrophenol catalytic reduction

An ultrafine Co/CoO nanoparticle-embedded N-doped porous carbon framework magnetic material was successfully synthesized based on a designed Co-MOF. Co/CoO@NC has good catalytic activity and recyclability for the 4-NP reduction reaction.

The in situ growth of Cu2O with a honeycomb structure on a roughed graphite paper for the efficient electroreduction of CO2 to C2H4

A Cu2O/NGP self-supporting electrocatalyst is used for the electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to ethylene to solve environmental and energy problems.

Synthesis of a Magnetic 2D Co@NC-600 Material by Designing a MOF Precursor for Efficient Catalytic Reduction of Water Pollutants

2D metal-organic framework (MOFs) can be ideal sacrificial templates for fabricating nanomaterials because of active sites exposed on the surface rather than in pores and channels, often exhibiting improved performance in catalysis applications. In this study, the novel 2D layered cobalt-based MOF [Co(TPT)(fma)(H₂O)₂]·3H₂O (Co-MOF) has been constructed by the selection of high N atom content ligands. On this basis, a 2D nitrogen-doped carbon-coated cobalt nanoparticle composite (Co@NC) was prepared by using this MOF as a precursor. Magnetic Co@NC has excellent catalytic activity and recycling features regarding the reaction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) reducing to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) in the presence of NaBH₄ at ambient temperature. 2D Co@NC-600 can reach nearly 100% conversion within 120 s and its stability remains almost unchanged after five reaction cycles. Moreover, this Co@NC catalyst also is highly active for catalytic reduction of dyes such as Rhodamine B (RhB) and Methylene blue (MB).

Rational synthesis of a ZIF-67@Co–Ni LDH heterostructure and derived heterogeneous carbon-based framework as a highly efficient multifunctional sulfur host

A core-shelled heterogeneous carbon-based framework induced a smooth “immobilization–diffusion–conversion–deposition” process of polysulfides and significantly improved the performance of Li–S batteries.

Facile fabrication of Co@C nanoparticles with different carbon-shell thicknesses: high-performance microwave absorber and efficient catalyst for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol

Co@C nanoparticles with different carbon-shell thicknesses can be used as a multifunctional material for a high-performance microwave absorber and as an efficient catalyst for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol.

Robust ultrafine ruthenium nanoparticles enabled by covalent organic gel precursor for selective reduction of nitrobenzene in water

Metal nanoparticles (NPs) supported on nitrogen-doped porous carbon (NPC) are one type of promising heterogeneous catalysts. The tuning and understanding of metal-support interactions are crucial for the design and synthesis of highly durable and efficient heterogeneous catalytic systems. Here, we present an effective strategy to integrate ultrafine metal NPs into NPC via utilizing a covalent organic gel (COG) as the precursor for the first time. The ruthenium (Ru) NPs were uniformly dispersed in NPCs with the average size as low as 1.90 ± 0.4 nm. Irrespective of their ultrafine size, Ru NPs showed unprecedented stability and recyclability in Ru-catalyzed reduction of nitrobenzene and were greatly superior to commercial Ru/C and NPC-supported Ru NPs synthesized by the traditional post-loading method. This synthetic strategy can be extended to the synthesis of other metal or alloy NPs for a variety of advanced applications.

Interior engineering of seaweed-derived N-doped versatile carbonaceous beads with Co x O y for universal organic pollutant degradation

The rational optimization of catalytic composites with excellent catalytic activities and long-term cycling stabilities for environmental remediation is still maintained as highly desired but is an ongoing challenge. Here, seaweed-derived N-doped versatile carbonaceous beads with Co x O y (Co-NC-0.25-700 °C) are employed as a novel catalyst to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for methylene blue (MB) degradation. Profiting from the improved structure-activity relationship and the synergistic effects between the "egg-box" structure and the Co x O y loaded on the N-doped carbonaceous beads, Co-NC-0.25-700 °C exhibited relatively high performance and comparative long-term stability. The universal applicability of Co-NC-0.25-700 °C was investigated by degrading other types of organic pollutants in various systems. For this type of newly fabricated high-performance versatile composites, structure-property relationships were plausibly proposed. Notably, the degradation efficiency and the catalyst structure could be tailored by the amount of polyethyleneimine (PEI) introduced in the preparation process and by the pyrolysis temperature. More favorably, the coupling of the magnetic properties and bead-like shape endows the resultant composites with remarkable reusability and recyclability, as compared to powder state materials. Another interesting finding is that MB degradation over Co-NC-0.25-700 °C is minimally affected by common ions (Cl-, NO3 -, SO4 2-, etc.), and holds a certain catalytic activity under the background conditions of two simulated real water conditions (running water and seawater). Of particular interest, a microreactor filled with Co-NC-0.25-700 °C was utilized as a verification model for practical applications of the reaction in continuous-flow. More far-reaching, the simulations of actual water conditions and the design of a continuous-flow reactor represent a giant step towards universal applications for organic pollution treatment.

Reduction of Nitro Compounds Using 3d-Non-Noble Metal Catalysts

The reduction of nitro compounds to the corresponding amines is one of the most utilized catalytic processes in the fine and bulk chemical industry. The latest development of catalysts with cheap metals like Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu has led to their tremendous achievements over the last years prompting their greater application as "standard" catalysts. In this review, we will comprehensively discuss the use of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts based on non-noble 3d-metals for the reduction of nitro compounds using various reductants. The different systems will be revised considering both the catalytic performances and synthetic aspects highlighting also their advantages and disadvantages.