Sulfur-doped activated carbon supported platinum species as robust catalysts for nitrobenzene hydrogenation to p-Aminophenol

•The meachanism of a sulfur doped carbon supported Pt-based catalyst in the selective hydrogenation of nitrobenzene to p-Aminophenol was proposed.•The influence of sulfur amount on catalytic reaction was measured.•The electron interaction between Pt and S improves the catalytic performance effectively.•Sulfur doping can control metal particle size to a certain extent.•The catalyst has high selectivity and stability. Nitrobenzene catalytic hydrogenation is the main synthesis method for the preparation of p-Aminophenol, but it is a great challenge to manufacture a catalyst with excellent catalytic performance. In this study, the authors explored the impact of S-doping on the catalytic performance of the platinum-based catalyst for the selective hydrogenation of nitrobenzene for p-Aminophenol production. To this end, the activated carbon carrier was modified through high-temperature calcination with an impregnation technique that incorporates organic sulfur. The study further evaluated the effects of the amount of sulfur doping on the particle size of the catalyst as well as its performance. It was theorized that the strong interaction between S and platinum (Pt) resulted in the capture of some of the Pt electrons by the sulfur-doped activated carbon carrier, reducing the reactivity of the catalyst and suppressing the over-hydrogenation side reaction. As a result, the catalyst demonstrated improved selectivity towards the formation of p-Aminophenol. [Display omitted]