Facile\nSynthesis of Boron and Nitrogen Dual-Doped\nHollow Mesoporous Carbons for Efficient Reduction of 4‑Nitrophenol

Abstract

The\ndevelopment of heteroatom-doped carbons with fascinating hierarchical\nporosity is of great significance for the improvement of catalytic\nproperties of carbon catalysts. In this work, we report a boron and\nnitrogen codoped hollow mesoporous carbon (denoted as BN/HMC) via\na simple synthesis route by direct pyrolysis of phenylboronic acid/melamine/ZIF-8\nprecursors. Thanks to their high specific surface area, unique hollow\nmesoporous nanoarchitecture, rich defects, and boron and nitrogen\ncodoping, the obtained BN/HMC-0.05 can be employed as a high-efficiency\ncarbon-based catalyst for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol. Theoretical\ncalculations reveal that the B and N codoping in a carbon matrix are\nessential for the adsorption and activation of 4-nitrophenol. The\npresent work might pave a new way in construction of metal-free carbon\ncatalysts with both heteroatom doping and hierarchical porosity for\nvarious applications.