II International Symposium on Carbon for Catalysis ABSTRACTS

pH
10
8
6
4
2
0 2 4 6 8 10
ml HCl added
Co-1023ACE
Co-923ACE
Co-923PYR
Figure 1: Titration curves of NCNT synthesized over
Co/SiO 2 at different temperatures from acetonitrile
(ACE) or pyridine (PYR)
Initial activity (mmol/g.h)
20
15
10
5
0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03
N pyridinic (mmol/g)
Figure 2: activity of NCNT as function of amount of
pyridinic nitrogen.
OP-I-20
addition of the titrant (HCl) thus indicating
different basicities for the materials. Curve
fitting and comparison with titrations of
reference compounds, a study which is
currently carried out, are expected to give
insight in the nature of the different basic
sites.
The activity of the NCNT was tested in
a Knoevenagel condensation of
benzaldehyde and ethylcyanoacetate. The
formation of the product, ethyl-alfacyanocinnamate
was monitored over time.
The initial activity of different NCNT
materials relates to the amount of pyridinic
nitrogen incoporated in the NCNT structure
(Figure 2).
Concluding remarks
The work is a significant step forward
in broadening the scope of solid base
catalysts. Pyridinic nitrogen incorporated whithin the graphene sheets of CNT showed base
properties. A more detailed study on further tuning of the base properties of NCNT and their
characterization is currently carried out.
References
1 K. Tanabe and W. F. Höldrich, Appl. Catal. A: General, 181, 399 (1999)
2 T. Nakajima, M. Koh, Carbon, 35(2) (1997) 203-208
3 M.Terrones, N. Grobert, H. Terrones, Carbon, 40, 1665, (2002)
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