One-step assembly of N-doped partially graphitic mesoporous carbon for nitrobenzene reduction

N-doped mesoporous carbon material has been synthesized by a novel one-step assembling strategy using ionic liquid (IL) as the carbon source and structure-directing agent. The obtained mesoporous carbon material has bimodal mesopores (about 3.8 and 9.0 nm) and partially graphitic structure with a BET surface area of 372 m(2)/g and mesopore volume of 0.61 cm(3)/g. The nitrogen in the IL precursor can be incorporated into the framework of mesoporous carbon with a content of 3.2 wt%. The obtained carbon material shows excellent catalytic performance for nitrobenzene (NB) reduction reaction with an 88.6% yield to aniline (AN). (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.