Vacancy defect MoSeTe embedded in N and F co-doped carbon skeleton for high performance sodium ion batteries and hybrid capacitors

Sodium-ion batteries(SIBs) and hybrid capacitors(SIHCs) have garnered significant attention in energy storage due to their inherent advantages,including high energy density,cost-effectiveness,and enhanced safety.However,developing high-performance anode materials to improve sodium storage performa nce still remains a major challenge.Here,a facile one-pot method has been developed to fabricate a hybrid of MoSeTe nanosheets implanted within the N,F co-doped honeycomb carbon skeleton(MoSeTe/N,F@C).Experimental results demonstrate that the incorporation of large-sized Te atoms into MoSeTe nanosheets enlarges the layer spacing and creates abundant anion vacancies,which effectively facilitate the insertion/extraction of Na^(+) and provide numerous ion adsorption sites for rapid surface capacitive behavior.Additionally,the heteroatoms N,F co-doped honeycomb carbon skeleton with a highly conductive network can restrain the volume expansion and boost reaction kinetics within the electrode.As anticipated,the MoSeTe/N,F@C anode exhibits high reversible capacities along with exceptional cycle stability.When coupled with Na_(3)V_(2)(PO_(4))_(3)@C(NVPF@C) to form SIB full cells,the anode delivers a reversible specific capacity of 126 mA h g^(-1) after 100 cycles at 0.1 A g^(-1).Furthermore,when combined with AC to form SIHC full cells,the anode demonstrates excellent cycling stability with a reversible specific capacity of50 mA h g^(-1) keeping over 3700 cycles at 1.0 A g^(-1).In situ XRD,ex situ TEM characterization,and theoretical calculations(DFT) further confirm the reversibility of sodium storage in MoSeTe/N,F@C anode materials during electrochemical reactions,highlighting their potential for widespread practical application.This work provides new insights into the promising utilization of advanced transition metal dichalcogenides as anode materials for Na^(+)-based energy storage devices.

Preparation of Co/S co-doped carbon catalysts for excellent methylene blue degradation

S and Co co-doped carbon catalysts were prepared via pyrolysis of MOF-71 and thiourea mixtures at 800℃at a mass ratio of MOF-71 to thiourea of 1:0.1 to effectively activate peroxymonosulfate(PMS)for methylene blue(MB)degradation.The effects of two different mixing routes were identified on the MB degradation performance.Particularly,the catalyst obtained by the alcohol solvent evaporation(MOF-AEP)mixing route could degrade 95.60%MB(50 mg/L)within 4 min(degradation rate:K=0.78 min^(-1)),which was faster than that derived from the direct grinding method(MOF-DGP,80.97%,K=0.39 min^(-1)).X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that the Co-S content of MOF-AEP(43.39at%)was less than that of MOF-DGP(54.73at%),and the proportion of C-S-C in MOF-AEP(13.56at%)was higher than that of MOF-DGP(10.67at%).Density functional theory calculations revealed that the adsorption energy of Co for PMS was -2.94 eV when sulfur was doped as C-S-C on the carbon skeleton,which was higher than that when sulfur was doped next to cobalt in the form of Co-S bond(-2.86 eV).Thus,the C-S-C sites might provide more contributions to activate PMS compared with Co-S.Furthermore,the degradation parameters,including pH and MOF-AEP dosage,were investigated.Finally,radical quenching experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance(EPR)measurements revealed that ^(1)O_(2)might be the primary catalytic species,whereas·O~(2-)might be the secondary one in degrading MB.

Ultralong nitrogen/sulfur Co-doped carbon nano-hollowsphere chains with encapsulated cobalt nanoparticles for highly efficient oxygen electrocatalysis

The development of simple and effective strategies to prepare electrocatalysts,which possess unique and stable structures comprised of metal/nonmetallic atoms for oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)and oxygen evolution reaction(OER),is currently an urgent issue.Herein,an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst featured by ultralong N,S-doped carbon nano-hollow-sphere chains about 1300 nm with encapsulated Co nanoparticles(Co-CNHSCs)is developed.The multifunctional catalytic properties of Co together with the heteroatom-induced charge redistribution(i.e.,modulating the electronic structure of the active site)result in superior catalytic activities toward OER and ORR in alkaline media.The optimized catalyst Co-CNHSC-3 displays an outstanding electrocatalytic ability for ORR and OER,a high specific capacity of 1023.6 mAh gZn^(-1),and excellent reversibility after 80 h at 10mA cm^(-2)in a Zn-air battery system.This work presents a new strategy for the design and synthesis of efficient multifunctional carbon-based catalysts for energy storage and conversion devices.

Rationally designed hollow carbon nanospheres decorated with S,P co-doped NiSe_(2) nanoparticles for high-performance potassium-ion and lithium-ion batteries

Hollow nanostructures with external shells and inner voids have been proved to greatly shorten the transport distance of ions/electrons and buffer volume change,especially for the large-sized potassium-ions in secondary batteries.In this work,hollow carbon(HC) nanospheres embedded with S,P co-doped NiSe_(2)nanoparticles are fabricated by "drop and dry" and "dissolving and precipitation" processes to form Ni(OH)2nanocrystals followed by annealing with S and P dopants to form nanoparticles.The resultant S,P-NiSe_(2)/HC composite exhibits excellent cyclic performance with 131.6 mA h g^(-1)at1000 mA g^(-1)after 3000 cycles for K^(+)storage and a capacity of 417.1 mA h g^(-1)at 1000 mA g^(-1)after1000 cycles for Li^(+)storage.K-ion full cells are assembled and deliver superior cycling stability with a ca pacity of 72.5 mA h g^(-1)at 200 mA g^(-1)after 500 cycles.The hollow carbon shell with excellent electrical conductivity effectively promotes the transporta tion and tolerates large volume variation for both K^(+)and Li^(+).Density functional theory calculations confirm that the S and P co-doping NiSe_(2) enables stronger adsorption of K^(+)ions and higher electrical conductivity that contributes to the improved electrochemical performance.

Construction of N,O co-doped carbon anchored with Co nanoparticles as efficient catalyst for furfural hydrodeoxygenation in ethanol

Hydrodeoxygenation of furfural(FF)into 2-methylfuran(MF)is a significant biomass utilization route.However,designing efficient and stable non-noble metal catalyst is still a huge challenge.Herein,we reported the N,O co-doped carbon anchored with Co nanoparticles(Co-SFB)synthesized by employing the organic ligands with the target heteroatoms.Raman,electron paramagnetic resonance(EPR),electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS),and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS)characterizations showed that the co-doping of N and O heteroatoms in the carbon support endows Co-SFB with enriched lone pair electrons,fast electron transfer ability,and strong metal-support interaction.These electronic properties resulted in strong FF adsorption as well as lower apparent reaction activation energy.At last,the obtained N,O co-doped Co/C catalyst showed excellent catalytic activity(nearly 100 mol%FF conversion and 94.6 mol%MF yield)and stability for in-situ dehydrogenation of FF into MF.This N,O co-doping strategy for the synthesis of highly efficient catalytic materials with controllable electronic state will provide an excellent opportunity to better understand the structure-function relationship.

Preparation of nitrogen and sulfur co-doped ultrathin graphitic carbon via annealing bagasse lignin as potential electrocatalyst towards oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline and acid media

Renewable lignin used for synthesizing materials has been proven to be highly potential in specific electrochemistry.Here,we report a simple method to synthesize nitrogen and sulfur co-doped carbon nanosheets by using bagasse lignin,denoted as lignin-derived carbon(LC).By adjusting the ratio of nitrogen source and annealing temperature,we obtained the ultrathin graphitic lignin carbon(LC-4-1000)with abundant wrinkles with high surface area of 1208 m2g_1 and large pore volume of 1.40 cm3g_1.In alkaline medium,LC-4-1000 has more positive half-wave potential and nearly current density compared to commercial Pt/C for oxygen reduction reaction(ORR).More importantly,LC-4-1000 also exhibits comparable activity and superior stability for ORR in acid medium due to its high graphitic N ratio and a direct four electron pathway for ORR.This study develops a cost-effective and highly efficient method to prepare biocarbon catalyst for ORR in fuel cells.

Hierarchical sulfur and nitrogen co-doped carbon nanocages as efficient bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts for rechargeable Zn-air battery

Exploring inexpensive and efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction(OER) is critical for rechargeable metal-air batteries. Herein, we report a new 3D hierarchical sulfur and nitrogen co-doped carbon nanocages(hSNCNC) as a promising bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst by an in-situ MgO template method with pyridine and thiophene as the mixed precursor. The as-prepared h SNCNC exhibits a positive half-wave potential of 0.792 V(vs. reversible hydrogen electrode, RHE) for ORR, and a low operating potential of 1.640 V at a 10 mA cm-2 current density for OER. The reversible oxygen electrode index is 0.847 V, far superior to commercial Pt/C and IrO2,which reaches the top level of the reported bifunctional catalysts. Consequently, the hSNCNC as air cathodes in an assembled Zn-air battery features low charge/discharge overpotential and long lifetime. The remarkable properties arises from the introduced multiple heteroatom dopants and stable 3D hierarchical structure with multi-scale pores, which provides the abundant uniform high-active S and N species and efficient charge transfer as well as mass transportation. These results demonstrate the potential strategy in developing suitable carbon-based bi-/multi-functional catalysts to enable the next generation of the rechargeable metal-air batteries.

Tuning interface mechanism of FeCo alloy embedded N,S-codoped carbon substrate for rechargeable Zn-air battery

The interface mechanism between catalyst and carbon substrate has been the focus of research.In this paper,the FeCo alloy embedded N,S co-doped carbon substrate bifunctional catalyst(FeCo/S-NC)is obtained by a simple one-step pyrolysis strategy.The experimental results and density functional theory(DFT)calculation show that the formation of FeCo alloy is conducive to promoting electron transfer,and the introduction of S atom can enhance the interaction between FeCo alloy and carbon substrate,thus inhibiting the migration and agglomeration of particles on the surface of carbon material.The FeCo/SNC catalysts show outstanding performance for oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)and oxygen evolution reaction(OER).FeCo/S-NC shows a high half-wave potential(E_(1/2)=0.8823 V)for ORR and a low overpotential at 10 mA cm^(-2)(E_(j=10)=299 mV)for OER.In addition,compared with Pt/C+RuO_(2) assembled Zn-air battery(ZAB),the FeCo/S-NC assembled ZAB exhibits a larger power density(198.8 mW cm^(-2)),a higher specific capacity(786.1 mA h g_(zn)~(-1)),and ultra-stable cycle performance.These results confirm that the optimized composition and the interfacial interaction between catalyst and carbon substrate synergistically enhance the electrochemical performance.

Synthesis of boron, nitrogen co-doped porous carbon from asphaltene for high-performance supercapacitors

Oxidized asphaltene （OA）, a thermosetting material with plenty of functional groups, is synthesized from asphaltene （A） using HNO3]HzSO4 as the oxidizing agent. Boron, nitrogen co-doped porous carbon （BNC-OA） is prepared by carbonization of the mixture of boric acid and OA at 1173 K in an argon atmosphere. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） characterization reveals that the BNC-OA has a nitrogen content of 3.26 at.% and a boron content of 1.31 at.%, while its oxidation-free counterpart （BNC-SA） has a nitrogen content of 1.61 at.% and a boron content of 3.02 at.%. The specific surface area and total pore volume of BNC-OA are 1103 m2·g^-1 and 0.921 cm3·g^-1, respectively. At a current density of 0.1 A·g^-1, the specific capacitance of BNC-OA is 335 F·g^-1 and the capacitance retention can still reach 83% at 1 A·g^-1. The analysis shows that the superior electrochemical performance of the BNC-OA is attributed to the pseudocapacitance behavior of surface heteroatom functional groups and an abundant pore-structure. Boron, nitrogen co-doped porous carbon is a promising electrode material for supercapacitors.

Sustainable silicon anodes facilitated via a double-layer interface engineering: Inner SiOx combined with outer nitrogen and boron co-doped carbon

Silicon-based(Si)materials are promising anodes for lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)because of their ultrahigh theoretical capacity of 4200 mA h g^(−1).However,commercial applications of Si anodes have been hindered by their drastic volume variation(∼300%)and low electrical conductivity.Here,to tackle the drawbacks,a hierarchical Si anode with double-layer coatings of a SiOx inner layer and a nitrogen(N),boron(B)co-doped carbon(C-NB)outer layer is elaborately designed by copyrolysis of Si-OH structures and a H3BO_(3)-doped polyaniline polymer on the Si surface.Compared with the pristine Si anodes(7mA h g^(−1) at 0.5 A g^(−1) after 340 cycles and 340 mA h g^(−1) at 5 A g^(−1)),the modified Si-based materials(Si@SiOx@C-NB nanospheres)present su perior cycling stability(reversible 1301 mA h g^(−1) at 0.5 A g^(−1) after 340 cycles)as well as excellent rate capability(690mA h g^(−1) at 5 A g^(−1))when used as anodes in LIBs.The unique double-layer coating structure,in which the inner amorphous SiOx layer acts as a buffer matrix and the outer defect-rich carbon enhances the electron diffusion of the whole anode,makes it possible to de liver excellent electrochemical properties.These results indicate that our double-layer coating strategy is a promising approach not only for the devel opment of sustainable Si anodes but also for the design of multielement-doped carbon nanomaterials.

Integration of pore structure modulation and B,N co-doping for enhanced capacitance deionization of biomass-derived carbon

Biomass-derived carbon has demonstrated great potentials as advanced electrode for capacitive deionization(CDI),owing to good electroconductivity,easy availability,intrinsic pores/channels.However,conventional simple pyrolysis of biomass always generates inadequate porosity with limited surface area.Moreover,biomass-derived carbon also suffers from poor wettability and single physical adsorption of ions,resulting in limited desalination performance.Herein,pore structure optimization and element co-doping are integrated on banana peels(BP)-derived carbon to construct hierarchically porous and B,N co-doped carbon with large ions-accessible surface area.A unique expansionactivation(EA)strategy is proposed to modulate the porosity and specific surface area of carbon.Furthermore,B,N co-doping could increase the ions-accessible sites with improved hydrophilicity,and promote ions adsorption.Benefitting from the synergistic effect of hierarchical porosity and B,N co-doping,the resultant electrode manifest enhanced CDI performance for NaCl with large desalination capacity(29.5 mg g^(-1)),high salt adsorption rate(6.2 mg g^(-1)min^(-1)),and versatile adsorption ability for other salts.Density functional theory reveals the enhanced deionization mechanism by pore and B,N co-doping.This work proposes a facile EA strategy for pore structure modulation of biomass-derived carbon,and demonstrates great potentials of integrating pore and heteroatoms-doping on constructing high-performance CDI electrode.

High-loading Co-doped NiO nanosheets on carbon-welded carbon nanotube framework enabling rapid charge kinetic for enhanced supercapacitor performance

Developing high power and energy supercapacitors(SCs)is a long-pursued goal for the application in transportation and energy storage station.Herein,a rationally-designed Co-doped nickel oxide nanosheets@carbon-welded carbon nanotube foam(Co-doped NiO@WCNTF)as freestanding electrode is successfully prepared for high power and energy SCs.The WCNTF framework with high specific surface area provides three dimensional highly conductive network for fast charge transport and ensures high loading of active materials(9.2 mg/cm2).Moreover,porous Co-doped NiO nanosheets uniformly anchored on the WCNTF framework enable rapid charge kinetics due to the high intrinsic conductivity of Co-doped Ni O nanosheets and their good contact with conductive WCNTF substrate.As a result,the unique integrated electrode with 3D architecture exhibits an ultrahigh specific capacitance of 11.45 F/cm2 at 5 mA/cm2,outstanding rate capability(11.45 F/cm2 at 5 mA/cm2 and a capacitance retention of 86.2%at 30 mA/cm2)and good cycling stability,suggesting great potential for high performance supercapacitor.

Direct Synthesis of Co-doped Graphene on Dielectric Substrates Using Solid Carbon Sources

Direct synthesis of high-quality doped graphene on dielectric substrates without transfer is highly desired for simplified device processing in electronic applications.However,graphene synthesis directly on substrates suitable for device applications,though highly demanded,remains unattainable and challenging.Here,a simple and transfer-free synthesis of high-quality doped graphene on the dielectric substrate has been developed using a thin Cu layer as the top catalyst and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as both carbon precursors and doping sources.N-doped and N,F-co-doped graphene have been achieved using TPB and F16Cu Pc as solid carbon sources,respectively.The growth conditions were systematically optimized and the as-grown doped graphene were well characterized.The growth strategy provides a controllable transfer-free route for high-quality doped graphene synthesis,which will facilitate the practical applications of graphene.

Biomass Template Derived Boron/Oxygen Co-Doped Carbon Particles as Advanced Anodes for Potassium-Ion Batteries

Among various anode candidates for potassium-ion batteries,carbonaceous materials have attracted significant attention due to their overwhelming advantages including cost-effectiveness and environmental benignity.However,the inferior specific capacity and the sluggish reaction kinetics hinder the further development in this realm.Herein,we report biomass templated synthesis of boron/oxygen heteroatom co-doped carbon particles(BO-CPs)via direct plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition.With the combined advantages of abundant active sites,large accessible surface area,and functional groups,BO-CP anode exhibits high reversible specific capacity(426.5 mAh g^(-1)at 0.1 A g^(-1))and excellent rate performance(166.5 mAh g^(-1)at 5 A g^(-1)).The K-ion storage mechanism is probed by operando Raman spectroscopy,ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy/electrochemical impedance spectroscopy,galvanostatic intermittent titration technique measurements,and theoretical simulations.The synergistic effect of boron and oxygen co-doping greatly facilitates the performance of carbon-based anode,wherein boron dopant improves the conductivity of carbon framework and the oxygen dopant affords ample active sites and thus harvests additional specific capacity.This work is anticipated to propel the development of high-performance anode materials for emerging energy storage devices.

Inherent mass transfer engineering of a Co,N co-doped carbon material towards oxygen reduction reaction

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is an important process for the conversion and utilization of a wide range of renewable energy sources, and is critical for the shape of future energy scenario [1–10]. However, ORR is a complex four-electron transfer process and is kinetically sluggish. It is urgent to develop high-efficient electrocatalysts to solve this problem [11–15]. Up to now, precious metal-based catalysts such as Pt-based electrocatalysts have been widely studied and found to be one of the most efficient electrocatalysts for ORR. However, the high price and the small reserves limit their large-scale commercialization [10,16–23]. Therefore, in order to fulfill needs for the practical applications, it is necessary to develop low-cost electrocatalysts, also with high activity and great stability [19,24–28].

Encapsulation of MnS Nanocrystals into N,S-Co-doped Carbon as Anode Material for Full Cell Sodium-Ion Capacitors

Sodium-ion capacitors(SICs)have received increasing interest for grid stationary energy storage application due to their affordability,high power,and energy densities.The major challenge for SICs is to overcome the kinetics imbalance between faradaic anode and nonfaradaic cathode.To boost the Na+reaction kinetics,the present work demonstrated a high-rate MnS-based anode by embedding the MnS nanocrystals into the N,S-co-doped carbon matrix(MnS@NSC).Benefiting from the fast pseudocapacitive Na+storage behavior,the resulting composite exhibits extraordinary rate capability(205.6 mAh g−1 at 10 A g−1)and outstanding cycling stability without notable degradation after 2000 cycles.A prototype SIC was demonstrated using MnS@NSC anode and N-doped porous carbon(NC)cathode;the obtained hybrid SIC device can display a high energy density of 139.8 Wh kg−1 and high power density of 11,500 W kg−1,as well as excellent cyclability with 84.5%capacitance retention after 3000 cycles.The superior electrochemical performance is contributed to downsizing of MnS and encapsulation of conductive N,S-co-doped carbon matrix,which not only promote the Na+and electrons transport,but also buffer the volume variations and maintain the structure integrity during Na+insertion/extraction,enabling its comparable fast reaction kinetics and cyclability with NC cathode.

Charge transfer interfaces across black phosphorus/Co,N Co-doped carbon heterojunction for enhanced electrocatalytic water splitting

The practicality of electrochemical water-splitting technology relies on the development of novel and efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts capable of facilitating both the hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)and oxygen evolution reaction(OER).Black phosphorus(BP)holds tremendous promise for HER and OER electrocatalysis owing to its fully exposed atoms and high carrier mobility.However,the elec-trocatalytic performance of BP is still much lower than the expected theoretical limit,presenting an exciting challenge for further advancements.Herein,we embed electrochemically exfoliated few-layer BP nanosheets in higher Fermi level(EF)of cobalt,nitrogen co-doped carbons to form a new heterojunction(CoNC-BP),as efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts toward HER and OER for the advancement overall water splitting applications.A directed interfacial electron transfer is realized from CoNC to BP,facilitated by the lowering Fermi level(EF).This interfacial electron transfer plays a crucial role in optimizing the adsorption and desorption of active intermediates,while also introducing an abundance of hypervalent Co sites.These factors collectively contribute to the remarkable electrocatalytic activities of HER and OER performance,leading to the efficient performance of the developed CoNC-BP heterojunction in water-splitting applications.This work demonstrates a promising breakthrough that can inspire the design of high-efficiency catalysts.

Guanine-derived F,N co-doped carbon-shell encapsulated iron carbide nanoparticles for enhanced CO_(2)electroreduction activity

The development of highly selective,cost-effective,and energy-efficient electrocatalysts is critical for carbon dioxide reduction reaction(CO_(2)RR)to produce high-value products.Herein,we propose a facile strategy to obtain F,N co-doped carbon-coated iron carbide(Fe3C)nanoparticles by using biomolecule guanine and hexadecafluorophthalocyanine iron as raw materials.Remarkably,this method involves only one-step pyrolysis and does not require any guiding agent or sacrificial template.Benefiting from the advantageous surface microenvironment adjustments achieved through graphitic N(GN)and F co-doping,Fe3C@NF-G-1000 demonstrates exceptional efficacy in the electroreduction of CO_(2)to carbon monoxide(CO)with an impressive Faradic efficiency(FEco)up to 98%at the potential of−0.55 V(vs.reversible hydrogen electrode(RHE)).Furthermore,it delivers a remarkable current density of up to−43 mA·cm^(−2)and exhibits virtually no current attenuation over a span of 20 h within the flow cell.Insights from density functional theory(DFT)calculations reveal that the composite structure of GN and F co-doped graphitic layer and Fe3C exhibits different electron density distributions from that of iron carbide nanoparticles.This is attributed to the synergistic effect of the composite structure leading to the enrichment of electrons in the graphite layer on the surface,which contributes to the stability of the key reaction intermediate*COOH,thus,resulting in an enhanced catalytic activity and efficiency.Overall,this work introduces a new and promising approach to the design of green and low-cost carbon-coated metal materials for CO_(2)reduction reactions.

Revisiting N,S co-doped carbon materials with boosted electrochemical performance in sodium-ion capacitors:The manipulation of internal electric field

Heteroatom doping has emerged as a prevailing strategy to enhance the storage of sodium ions in carbon materials.However,the underlying mechanism governing the performance enhancement remains undisclosed.Herein,we fabricated N/S co-doped carbon beaded fibers(S-N-CBFs),which exhibited glorious rate performance and durableness in Na+storage,showcasing no obvious capacity decay even after 3500 cycles.Furthermore,when used as anodes in sodium-ion capacitors,the S-N-CBFs delivered exceptional results,boasting a high energy density of 225 Wh·kg^(-1),superior power output of 22500 W·kg^(-1),and outstanding cycling stability with a capacity attenuation of merely 0.014%per cycle after 4000 cycles at 2 A·g^(-1).Mechanistic investigations revealed that the incorporation of both pyridinic N and pyrrolic N into the carbon matrix of S-N-CBFs induced internal electric fields(IEFs),with the former IEF being stronger than the latter,in conjunction with the doped S atom.Density functional theory calculations further unveiled that the intensity of the IEF directly influenced the adsorption of Na+,thereby resulting in the exceptional performances of S-N-CBFs as sodium-ion storage materials.This work uncovers the pivotal role of IEF in regulating the electronic structure of carbon materials and enhancing their Na^(+)storage capabilities,providing valuable insights for the development of more advanced electrode materials.

Cobalt-nitrogen co-doped porous carbon sphere as highly efficient catalyst for liquid-phase cyclohexane oxidation with molecular oxygen and the active sites investigation

The selective oxidation of cyclohexane to cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol(KA oil)is a challenging issue in the chemical industry.At present the industrial conversion of cyclohexane to cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol is normally controlled at less than 5%selectivity.Thus,the development of highly active and stable catalysts for the aerobic oxidation of cyclohexane is necessary to overcome this low-efficiency process.Therefore,we have developed a cobalt-nitrogen co-doped porous sphere catalyst,Co-NC-x(x is the Zn/Co molar ratio,where x=0,0.5,1,2,and 4)by pyrolyzing resorcinol-formaldehyde resin microspheres.It achieved 88.28%cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol selectivity and a cyclohexane conversion of 8.88%under Co-NC-2.The results showed that the introduction of zinc effectively alleviated the aggregation of Co nanoparticles and optimized the structural properties of the material.In addition,Co0 and pyridinic-N are proposed to be the possible active species,and their proportion efficiently increased in the presence of Zn^(2+)species.In this study,we developed a novel strategy to design highly active catalysts for cyclohexane oxidation.