Facile simultaneous defect production and O,N-doping of carbon nanotubes with unexpected catalytic performance for clean and energy-saving production of styrene

Abstract

O,N-doped carbon nanotubes with increased structural defects and enriched surface ketonic CO groups (MN-CNT), prepared by a facile and low-cost one-step strategy, demonstrate unexpected catalytic performance in direct dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene for styrene production with clean and energy-saving features. This work paves a new avenue for preparing other highly-efficient carbocatalysts in diverse organic transformations.