1,5-Dinitronaphthalene hydrogenation to 1,5-diaminonaphthalene over carbon nanotube supported non-noble metal catalysts under mild conditions

Abstract Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were firstly thermal treated and then acid treated in HNO 3 or mixture of HNO 3 and H 2 SO 4 . The treated carbon nanotubes were used as support to load nickel to prepare non-noble metal hydrogenation catalysts. These catalysts were characterized and applied in 1,5-dinitronaphthalene hydrogenation. The characterization results indicate that acid modified carbon nanotubes not only possess a more hydrophilic surface by introducing a variety of oxygen-containing functional groups, but also improve the nickel dispersion, hydrogen uptake quantity and metallic surface area. The Ni/CNTs catalysts show good catalytic activity in 1,5-dinitronaphthalene hydrogenation under mild reaction conditions, and the Ni/CNTs-4 gives the best result of 100% conversion of 1,5-dinitronaphthalene and 92.04% selectivity to 1,5-diaminonaphthalene under 0.6 MPa and 393 K. The influences of reaction conditions and metal loading amount are discussed, and a possible reaction routes of 1,5-dinitronaphthalene hydrogenation is proposed. Such non-noble metal hydrogenation catalysts are expected to replace the present supported palladium or platinum noble catalysts in industry.