Fabrication of Polydopamine Modified Carbon Nanotube Hybrids and their Catalytic Activity in Ethylbenzene Dehydrogenation

Abstract A new synthetic strategy was developed for the fabrication of polydopamine modified carbon nanotube catalysts via in situ polymerization and subsequent thermal treatment process. The hybrid nonmetallic catalysts exhibited superior apparent and intrinsic activity than undoped or nitrogen doped carbon nanotube materials in ethylbenzene dehydrogenation reactions. The relatively high catalytic activity could be attributed to the electron transfer from polydopamine to nanocarbon matrix. The immediate result is that the improved nucleophilicity enhanced the hydrogen abstraction activity of nanocarbon catalysts, which is recognized as the rate determining step in alkane dehydrogenation reactions.