Copper and cobalt nanoparticles doped nitrogen-containing carbon frameworks derived from CuO-encapsulated ZIF-67 as high-efficiency catalyst for hydrogenation of 4-nitrophenol

4-Nitrophenol (4-NP) in industrial and agricultural wastewater has serious toxic effects on human beings and animals, it is urgent and meaningful to deal with this pollutant. At present, catalysts containing noble metals have been used to catalyze hydrogenation of 4-NP, but noble metals are inevitably costly and limited in supplies. Thus, we presented a facile method to prepare copper and cobalt nanoparticles doped nitrogen-containing carbon frameworks (Cu/[email protected]) derived from CuO-encapsulated ZIF-67 to replace noble-metal catalysts to eliminate 4-NP. In this work, ZIF-67 was a sacrificial template, the derivative of ZIF-67 acted as not only supported material but also a synergistic catalyst. Due to the high specific surface area and porous ZIF-67, the fusion of copper and cobalt at high temperature was suppressed, resulting in the well distribution of copper and cobalt nanoparticles in the N-containing carbon frameworks during pyrolysis thus enhancing the catalytic performance of the composite. The composite was used as catalyst for hydrogenation of 4-NP, which exhibited perfect catalytic activity. The pseudo-first-order reaction kinetic constant reached 4.159 min*, the specific activity of Cu/[email protected] was 4 μmol⋅mg−1⋅min*, which was much higher than a number of noble-metal catalysts, making it a potential catalyst for reduction of 4-NP in industrialization.