Microporous nitrogen-doped carbon from polyaniline as a highly efficient and stable catalyst for acetylene hydrochlorination

As a hot alternative to toxic industrial catalyst for acetylene hydrochlorination recently, N-doped carbon material (NC) catalysts have not yet exhibited both good activity and stability. Herein, NC catalysts with special physicochemical characteristics (abundant specific surface area and proper nitrogen content) were presented by the calcination of protonated polyaniline via chemical polymerization conditions. A comparison of the performance between the novel catalysts and industrial 5% HgCl2/AC catalyst for acetylene hydrochlorination was evaluated under same acetylene gas hourly space velocity condition. The P-NC-1173-A6V12 catalyst exhibited a better initial acetylene conversion as well as stability at a high temperature reaction condition. The excellent catalytic stability is improved by the synergetic effect of abundant pore structure (especially micropores) and proper nitrogen species. In addition, carbon deposition is the main deactivation reason of catalyst. This work provides a facile method to prepare an environmentally friendly non-metallic catalyst with the potential for acetylene hydrochlorination.