A binary carbon@silica@carbon hydrophobic nanoreactor for highly efficient selective oxidation of aromatic alkanes?

Nanoscale Pub Date: 2021-10-02 DOI: 10.1039/D1NR05695F

Abstract

Nanoreactors with a delimited void space and a large number of mesoporous structures have attracted great attention as potential heterogeneous catalysts. In this work, a cobalt and nitrogen co-doped binary carbon@silica@carbon hydrophobic nanoreactor was synthesized by an in situ synthesis method. Cobalt porphyrin was used as an active component to construct Co–Nx sites, and the purpose of the double carbon layer coating was to enhance the hydrophobicity of the surface of the nanoreactor. The optimal nanoreactor could achieve 96.9% ethylbenzene conversion and 99.1% acetophenone selectivity and showed outstanding universality to many other aromatic alkanes. The superior performance was mainly due to the presence of double carbon layers and the high content of Co–Nx sites. The double hydrophobic carbon layer coating could not only promote the adsorption of organic molecules, but also implant Co–Nx active sites on both the inner and outer surfaces of the nanoreactor. This work proposed a meaningful strategy to obtain a highly efficient nanoreactor for C–H bond oxidation.

Graphical abstract: A binary carbon@silica@carbon hydrophobic nanoreactor for highly efficient selective oxidation of aromatic alkanes
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