Porphyrin-based covalent triazine framework and its carbonized derivative as catalyst scaffold of Au and Ag nanoparticles for 4-nitrophenol reduction

Porous carbon with abundant nitrogen doping (C-PCTF) was obtained by using porphyrin-based covalent triazine framework (PCTF) as the carbonization precursor. As expected, C-PCTF inherits the porous structure and the chemical composition of the PCTF. Due to the high surface area and accessible nitrogen sites, the carbon material can be employed as a superior supporting substrate to immobilize Au and Ag nanoparticles. Both the Au@C-PCTF and Ag@C-PCTF nanocatalysts show good catalytic activity in the reduction of 4-nitrophenol. Especially for Ag@C-PCTF, the catalytic activity is higher than most of other metal-catalysts reported previously. This study would provide a new strategy to use various porous organic polymers in fabricating carbon-supported heterogeneous catalysts.