Cuprous
oxide (Cu2O) nanoparticles as organic catalysts
have been widely applied due to their low cost, high efficiency, and
nontoxicity. However, severe agglomeration of nanoparticles would
cause side effects on the catalytic performance. Herein, Cu2O micro/nanoparticles were encapsulated into activated carbon felt
(ACF) (Cu2O@ACF) to solve nanoparticle agglomeration, and
then, three products (alkenylboronates, diaryl sulfides, and 1,2,3-triazoles)
were successfully prepared using Cu2O@ACF as the catalyst.
In particular, Cu2O@ACF also showed excellent recycling
performance for catalytic reactions. After 10 cycles, the yield of
alkenylboronates remained high (up to 63%). ACF as a carrier can suppress
the aggregation of Cu2O micro/nanoparticles during the
process of catalytic reaction, contributing to the improvement of
high yield even after ten cycles. This work proposes a simple method
to improve the catalytic performance of Cu2O micro/nanoparticles
by encapsulating micro/nanoparticles into ACF.