Mesoporous Carbon Supported Metal Catalysts for Sustainable Hydrogenation Reactions

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Mesoporous carbon (CMC, Carbon Made in China, Patent of Prof. J. Shen) is a promising support material in heterogeneous catalysis. Similar to the conventional activated carbon (AC), CMC is characterized by large surface area, high chemical resistance and easy recycling of supported metals. Different from the microporosity of AC, the mesoporous properties facilitate mass transport, which is especially important for large molecules or liquid phase reactions. Heteroatoms like N can be incorporated into CMC to obtain NMC. The incorporated N species improve the wettability and basicity of the support, promote metal dispersion and enhance thermal stability of supported nanoparticles against sintering. An appropriate basicity is more advantageous than acidity for high selectivity in important hydrogenation reactions. The N species also improve the reducibility leading to a lower oxidation state of supported metals, which is considered as a positive effect for hydrogenation reactions. In this project, the CMC and NMC materials developed in our lab will be used as support for active metallic components, metal carbides, nitrides and phosphides and applied in the hydrogenation of nitro-compounds, the benzene ring in aniline and its derivatives, hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) and hydrodesulfurization (HDS) reactions, and hydrodepolymerization of biomass-derived lignin. The catalytic performance of the catalysts will be evaluated under different conditions. The catalytically active centers will be identified, and the metal-support interactions, H spill-over, surface diffusion and catalytic mechanisms will be studied supported by state-of-the-art theory.