Mesoporous carbon as a metal-free catalyst for the reduction of nitroaromatics with hydrazine hydrate

Abstract

Mesoporous carbons with tailored pore size were prepared by using sucrose as the carbon source and silicas as the templates. The silica templates were obtained from a hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin-silica hybrids using ammonium perchlorate oxidation at different temperatures to remove the organic matter. The structures and surface chemistry properties of these carbon materials were characterized by N2 adsorption, TEM, SEM and FTIR measurements. The catalytic performances of these carbon materials were investigated through the reduction of nitroaromatic using hydrazine hydrate as the reducing agent. Compared with other carbon materials, such as active carbon, and carbon materials from the silica templates obtained by using calcinations to remove the organic matter, these carbon materials exhibited much higher catalytic activity, no obvious deactivation was observed after recycling the catalyst four times. Higher surface area and pore volume, and the presence of abundant surface oxygen-containing functional groups, which originate from the special preparation process of carbon material, are likely responsible for the high catalytic property of these mesoporous carbon materials.