Phosphorous‐modified Porous Carbon Supported Nickel Nanoparticles as a Catalyst for the Reduction of Nitroaromatics in Water

Abstract

Phosphorus-modified porous carbon (PCP) with about 7 w% phosphorus content has been prepared from acetylene and triphenylphosphine using chemical vapor deposition method. Then,5,10,15,20,25,and 30 w% nickel(0) nanoparticles have been deposited (using the in-situ reduction of NiCl2 salt) on the surface of PCP to obtain Ni-decorated PCP (NPCP). The prepared materials (NPCP) have been employed as a catalyst for the catalytic reduction of nitrobenzene derivatives to anilines. The NPCP with 20 w% of Ni showed the highest catalytic efficiency. The reaction was carried out using 10 mg catalyst, 2 mL of 25 % hydrazine hydrate solution as the reducing agent in 2 h (optimized conditions) to obtain the product in 51-100 % yield. To show the versatility of this method, 8 nitrobenzene derivatives (including 3 different nitrophenols) have been successfully reduced using this method. The recyclability of the catalyst was investigated and the results showed only 20 % decreasing in the yield after 6 runs.