Issue 6, 2023

Structure engineering of CeO2 for boosting the Au/CeO2 nanocatalyst in the green and selective hydrogenation of nitrobenzene

Abstract

Exploring eco-friendly and cost-effective strategies for structure engineering at the nanoscale is important for boosting heterogeneous catalysis but still under a long-standing challenge. Herein, multifunctional polyphenol tannic acid, a low-cost natural biomass containing catechol and galloyl species, was employed as a green reducing agent, chelating agent, and stabilizer to prepare Au nanoparticles, which were dispersed on different-shaped CeO2 supports (e.g., rod, flower, cube, and octahedral). Systematic characterizations revealed that Au/CeO2-rod had the highest oxygen vacancy density and Ce(III) proportion, favoring the dispersion and stabilization of the metal active sites. Using isopropanol as a hydrogen-transfer reagent, deep insights into the structure–activity relationship of the Au/CeO2 catalysts with various morphologies of CeO2 in the catalytic nitrobenzene transfer hydrogenation reaction were gained. Notably, the catalytic performance followed the order: Au/CeO2-rod (110), (100), (111) > Au/CeO2-flower (100), (111) > Au/CeO2-cube (100) > Au/CeO2-octa (111). Au/CeO2-rod displayed the highest conversion of 100% nitrobenzene and excellent stability under optimal conditions. Moreover, DFT calculations indicated that nitrobenzene molecules had a suitable adsorption energy and better isopropanol dehydrogenation capacity on the Au/CeO2 (110) surface. A reaction pathway and the synergistic catalytic mechanism for catalytic nitrobenzene transfer hydrogenation are proposed based on the results. This work demonstrates that CeO2 structure engineering is an efficient strategy for fabricating advanced and environmentally benign materials for nitrobenzene hydrogenation.

Graphical abstract: Structure engineering of CeO2 for boosting the Au/CeO2 nanocatalyst in the green and selective hydrogenation of nitrobenzene

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
18 mar. 2023
Accepted
22 mar. 2023
First published
23 mar. 2023

Nanoscale Horiz., 2023,8, 812-826

Structure engineering of CeO2 for boosting the Au/CeO2 nanocatalyst in the green and selective hydrogenation of nitrobenzene

J. Ye, M. Jing, Y. Liang, W. Li, W. Zhao, J. Huang, Y. Lai, W. Song, J. Liu and J. Sun, Nanoscale Horiz., 2023, 8, 812 DOI: 10.1039/D3NH00103B

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements