Yefei Liu

Bio: Yefei Liu is an academic researcher from Nanjing Tech University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Catalysis & Cyclohexanone. The author has an hindex of 12, co-authored 56 publications receiving 429 citations.

Turning surface properties of Pd/N-doped porous carbon by trace oxygen with enhanced catalytic performance for selective phenol hydrogenation to cyclohexanone

Abstract: Herein, the microstructure and surface properties of activated carbon (AC) was successfully turned by simply controlling the initial oxygen concentration during the calcination, the modified AC materials were doped with nitrogen and supported by Pd nanoparticles (NPs) to prepare Pd/N-doped porous carbon (Pd/CN) catalysts, and their catalytic performance in the phenol hydrogenation to cyclohexanone was evaluated. The modification with trace oxygen can decrease the hydrophilicity of AC, leading to better dispersibility of the Pd/CN O catalyst in nonpolar reaction solvent (cyclohexane). Trace oxygen modification can increase the content of O-containing groups (C O) on the AC surface, promoting the interaction between Pd NPs and carrier, thus higher Pd dispersion. As a result, the modified Pd/CN catalyst (Pd/CN O) exhibits superior catalytic activity and stability than unmodified Pd/CN catalyst (Pd/CN-raw), with a phenol conversion increased from 84.1% to 99.6%. This work would aid the deep insights into the phenol hydrogenation over Pd/CN.

State of the Art and Prospects in Metal-Organic Framework (MOF)-Based and MOF-Derived Nanocatalysis.

Abstract: Metal-organic framework (MOF) nanoparticles, also called porous coordination polymers, are a major part of nanomaterials science, and their role in catalysis is becoming central. The extraordinary variability and richness of their structures afford engineering synergies between the metal nodes, functional linkers, encapsulated substrates, or nanoparticles for multiple and selective heterogeneous interactions and activations in these MOF-based nanocatalysts. Pyrolysis of MOF-nanoparticle composites forms highly porous N- or P-doped graphitized MOF-derived nanomaterials that are increasingly used as efficient catalysts especially in electro- and photocatalysis. This review first briefly summarizes this background of MOF nanoparticle catalysis and then comprehensively reviews the fast-growing literature reported during the last years. The major parts are catalysis of organic and molecular reactions, electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, and views of prospects. Major challenges of our society are addressed using these well-defined heterogeneous catalysts in the fields of synthesis, energy, and environment. In spite of the many achievements, enormous progress is still necessary to improve our understanding of the processes involved beyond the proof-of-concept, particularly for selective methane oxidation, hydrogen production, water splitting, CO2 reduction to methanol, nitrogen fixation, and water depollution.