With the depletion of nonrenewable resources and the increasingly serious "white pollution" caused by nondegradable plastics, using renewable biomass resources such as chitin to fabricate materials is a green and sustainable pathway. Herein, for the first time, we used N/O-doped carbon nanofibrous microspheres (CNMs) derived from renewable chitin as carriers to successfully construct a highly dispersed platinum nanocatalyst via a facile way. Various physicochemical characterizations provided reliable evidence for the ultrafine and well-dispersed platinum nanoparticles with an average diameter of 2.3 nm. As the supporting framework, the CNM with interconnected nanofibrous networks and a large surface area facilitated the adhesion and dispersion of Pt particles. Meanwhile, the inherent N/O-containing functional groups and the defects in carbonized chitin could anchor the platinum tightly. The CNM/Pt catalyst was further examined for hydrogenation, and it exhibited promising catalytic activity and stability (∼5 runs, 91%) and a broad applicability. This utilization of biomass resources to build catalyst materials would be important for the green and sustainable chemistry.
Keywords: Pt nanocatalyst; carbon nanofibrous microspheres; chitin; hydrogenation; renewable biomass resource.