Synergistic effects of carbon-encapsulated cobalt/tricobalt tetroxide nanocapsules on hydrogenation of 4-nitrophenol

In this paper, we fabricated carbon-encapsulated cobalt/tricobalt tetroxide complex nanomaterials (Co/Co 3 O 4 @C) by a simple arc-discharged method and controlled annealing in air. Controlled annealing can solve the problem of poor hydrophilicity of materials prepared by arc-discharged method, and what’s more, a large number of Co/Co 3 O 4 heterointerfaces can be constructed. Carbon-encapsulated Co/Co 3 O 4 exhibited excellent catalytic performance in the catalytic hydrogenation of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), even better than that of the reported precious metal catalysts in the literature. Excellent catalytic performance not only contributed to improved hydrophilicity, but also contributed to the synergistic effects of Co and Co 3 O 4 on the catalytic 4-NP hydrogenation. The preparation process is appropriate for synthesizing various defective-rich metals or alloy@carbon electrocatalysts.