Abstract:
Metal nitrides have attracted great interest as non-noble catalysts in heterogeneous catalysis due
to their exceptional catalytic potential and stability, yet the approach for their synthesis remains
challenging. This study entails to an investigative analysis of employing a facile and simplistic
procedure for the synthesis of Co4N/C. Pure phase Co4N/C-Anl@800 and Co4N/C-Hmt@800
with in-situ carbon matrix was derived by annealing the precursor coordination polymer using
corresponding ligand as aniline and hexamethylenetetramine under inert atmosphere and used
as environmental nanocatalyst for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol(4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-
AP) with NaBH4 as reductant. The as-prepared nanocatalyst Co4N/C-Anl@800 and Co4N/CHmt@
800, corresponding to their carbonization temperature showed remarkable catalytic
efficiency in terms of low activation energy Ea= 1.24×10-1KJ/mol and 3.038×10-1 KJmol-1,
respectively. The conversion rate for the catalyst Co4N/C-Anl@800 and Co4N/C-Hmt@800
were calculated to be 0.07793s-1 and 0.2884 s-1 with 97.96% and 97.57% conversion efficiency,
respectively. The metallic characteristics of Co4N and its stability makes the catalyst efficient
for reusability. The extraordinary catalytic activity can be attributed to the cobalt nitride
nanoparticles as active sites and the carbon support doped with nitrogen provides an expressway
for the transport of electrons required for catalytic reduction. Prospectively, it is envisioned that
this work may facilitate the fabrication of cobalt nitrides for a wide range of industrial
applications.
