Metal-complexed covalent organic frameworks derived N-doped carbon nanobubble-embedded cobalt nanoparticle as a magnetic and efficient catalyst for oxone activation

Ha Trang Nguyen; Jechan Lee; Eilhann Kwon; Grzegorz Lisak; Bui Xuan Thanh; Wen Da Oh; Kun-Yi Andrew Lin

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2021.01.108

Metal-complexed covalent organic frameworks derived N-doped carbon nanobubble-embedded cobalt nanoparticle as a magnetic and efficient catalyst for oxone activation

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2021 Jun:591:161-172. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.01.108. Epub 2021 Feb 3.

Authors

Ha Trang Nguyen¹, Jechan Lee², Eilhann Kwon³, Grzegorz Lisak⁴, Bui Xuan Thanh⁵, Wen Da Oh⁶, Kun-Yi Andrew Lin⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Engineering & Innovation and Development Center of Sustainable Agriculture, National Chung Hsing University, 250 Kuo-Kuang Road, Taichung, Taiwan.
² Department of Environmental and Safety Engineering, Ajou University, Suwon 16499, Republic of Korea.
³ Department of Environment and Energy, Sejong University, 209 Neungdong-ro, Gunja-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
⁴ Residues and Resource Reclamation Centre, Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637141, Singapore; School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
⁵ Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, VNU-HCM, 268 Ly Thuong Kiet, District 10, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Viet Nam.
⁶ School of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia. Electronic address: ohwenda@usm.my.
⁷ Department of Environmental Engineering & Innovation and Development Center of Sustainable Agriculture, National Chung Hsing University, 250 Kuo-Kuang Road, Taichung, Taiwan. Electronic address: linky@nchu.edu.tw.

PMID: 33601102
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.01.108

Abstract

While Cobalt nanoparticles (Co NPs) are useful for catalytic Oxone activation, it is more advantageous to embed/immobilize Co NPs on nitrogen-doped carbon substrates to provide synergy for enhancing catalytic performance. Herein, this study proposes to fabricate such a composite by utilizing covalent organic frameworks (COF) as a precursor. Through complexation of COF with Co, a stable product of Co-complexed COF (Co-COF) can be synthesized. This Co-COF is further converted through pyrolysis to N-doped carbon in which cobaltic NPs are embedded. Owing to its well-defined structures of Co-COF, the pyrolysis process transforms COF into N-doped carbon with a bubble-like morphology. Such Co NP-embedded N-doped carbon nanobubbles (CoCNB) with pores, magnetism and Co, shall be a promising catalyst. Thus, CoCNB shows a much stronger catalytic activity than commercial Co₃O₄ NPs to activate Oxone to degrade toxic Amaranth dye (AMD). CoCNB-activated Oxone also achieves a significantly lower E_a value of AMD degradation (i.e., 27.9 kJ/mol) than reported E_a values in previous literatures. Besides, CoCNB is still effective for complete elimination of AMD in the presence of high-concentration NaCl and surfactants, and CoCNB is also reusable over five consecutive cycles.

Keywords: Co NPs; Covalent organic frameworks; Magnetic; N-doped carbon; Oxone.