Easily Recyclable Pd@CN/SiNFs Catalysts for Efficient Phenol Hydrogenation

The one-step hydrogenation of phenol offers an effective and sustainable approach to the green production of cyclohexanone. To address the challenges of separating and recycling powdered catalysts, inorganic silicon oxide nanofibers (SiNFs) were synthesized as a support via electrospinning. Meanwhile, polydopamine (PDA) was used as a modifier, promoting the in situ growth of ZIF-67 on the surface of SiNFs. The Pd@CN/SiNFs catalysts were then prepared by pyrolysis and Pd loading, where CN refers to N-doped carbon. The Pd@CN/SiNFs-0.3-700 catalyst exhibits exceptional catalytic performance, with a specific activity of 186.9 h–1 for phenol hydrogenation, which is 8.7 times that of Pd@CN/SiNFs-0-700 and 19.5 times that of the powdered ZIF-67-derived Pd@CN catalyst. The outstanding catalytic activity of Pd@CN/SiNFs-0.3-700 can be attributed to the synergistic effects between the PDA-modified SiNFs and the ZIF-67-derived CN. Furthermore, the unique 1D nanofiber structure of the Pd@CN/SiNFs-0.3-700 catalyst allows for rapid recovery and efficient recycling in subsequent reactions.