Facile fabrication of Ni nanoparticles embedded within highly N-Doped carbon nanofibers as an outstanding catalyst for quinoline hydrogenation

• Published in: Journal of alloys and compounds 2022-12, Vol.925, p.166703, Article 166703
• Main Authors: Zhu, Yibin, Gu, Juwen, Huang, Zan, Ding, Hanlin, Xia, Hongyan, Qiu, Songbai, Xie, Kang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aqueous solutions; Carbon fibers; Carbonization; Catalysts; Catalytic converters; Electrospinning; Embedded Ni catalyst; Functional materials; Hydrogenation; Manufacturing; N-doped carbon nanofibers; Nanofibers; Nanoparticles; Nitrogen; Polyacrylamide; Precursors; Quinoline; Quinoline hydrogenation; Selectivity
• ISSN: 0925-8388; 1873-4669
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2022.166703

Recently, electrospinning technology has high-potential applications in the large-scale manufacturing of one-dimensional (1D) nano-catalytic functional materials. Herein, Ni nanoparticles embedded within highly N-doped carbon nanofibers (Ni@NCNFs) were fabricated using polyacrylamide (PAM) and nickel acetate (NiAc) aqueous solutions as precursors by electrospinning and subsequent carbonization for the first time. The as-prepared Ni@NCNFs were smoothly applied to the hydrogenation of quinoline toward 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline and manifested excellent catalytic performance with extremely high selectivity (99.0%) at full conversion (99.3%). The influence factors on the physicochemical properties were further studied, including the carbonization temperature, the PAM mass fractions and the mole ratios between PAM and NiAc (PMA/Ni). The present work demonstrated that electrospinning and carbonization could be potential technologies for manufacturing Ni@NCNFs as an outstanding catalyst for quinoline hydrogenation. Furthermore, PAM rich in nitrogen could serve as a new alternative electrospinning precursor for future applications. [Display omitted] •Polyacrylamide was proved as an excellent electrospinning precursor loaded various metal, including Ni, Co and Cu.•Fibrous Ni@NCNFs with high N-doping were fabricated by electrospinning with subsequent carbonization.•Facilely prepared Ni@NCNFs manifested excellent catalytic performance in quinoline hydrogenation.•99.0% of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline selectivity was achieved at 99.3% of quinoline conversion.