N‐Doped Sub‐3 nm Co Nanoparticles as Highly Efficient and Durable Aerobic Oxidative Coupling Catalysts |
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| Authors: | Dr Junxing Han Feifei Gu Dr Yuchao Li |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China;2. Beijing City University, Beijing, P. R. China;3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China |
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| Abstract: | A nano‐coating associated with sulfuric acid leaching protocol was developed to prepare N‐doped sub‐3 nm Co‐based nanoparticle catalyst (Co?N/C) using melamine–formaldehyde resin as the N‐containing precursor, active carbon as the support, and Co(NO3)2 as the Co‐containing precursor. By thermal treatment under nitrogen atmosphere at 800 °C and leached with sulfuric acid solution, a stable and highly dispersive Co?N coordination structure was uniformly dispersed on the formed Co?N/C catalyst with a Co loading of 0.47 wt % and Co nanoparticle size of 2.55 nm. The Co?N/C catalyst was characterized with XRD, XPS, Raman, SEM, TEM, ICP, and elemental analysis. The Co?N/C catalyst showed extremely high catalytic efficiency with a TON of 257 for the aerobic oxidative coupling of aldehydes with methanol to directly synthesize methyl esters with molecular oxygen as the final oxidant. The Co?N/C catalyst also showed broad substrate range and stable recyclability. After recycling for 7 times, no obvious deactivation was detected. It was confirmed that the sub‐3 nm Co?N coordination structure formed between metallic Co nanoparticles and pyridinic nitrogen doping into graphitic layers functions as the active site to activate molecular oxygen for the β‐H elimination from generated hemiacetal intermediates to produce methyl esters. The nano‐coating associated with acid leaching protocol provides a novel strategy to prepare highly efficient non‐precious metal‐based catalysts. |
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| Keywords: | aldehydes cobalt methanol nitrogen oxidative coupling |
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