Confined Cobalt on Carbon Nanotubes in Solvent‐free Aerobic Oxidation of Ethylbenzene: Enhanced Interfacial Charge Transfer

Aerobic oxidation of hydrocarbons yielding corresponding oxygenated products is one of the most important chemical processes. In current work, carbon nanotubes supported encapsulated cobalt nanoparticles with carbon layers (Co@C/CNTs) were synthesized and utilized as catalysts in the oxidation of ethylbenzene (EB) in the liquid phase, exhibiting high catalytic performance. The synergistic effect between Co@C and CNTs played the vital role on facilitating the decomposition of peroxides to enhance the overall activity. The inadequate covered Co@C on CNTs surface were considered as catalytic sites. Density functional theory revealed that the exist of Co nanoparticles could improve the interaction between the catalyst and intermediate free radicals, which were significant for EB oxidation. Last but not least, the electron transfer on carbon surface was enhanced by the incorporation of Co@C nanoparticles, which greatly improved the catalytic performance on EB oxidation. This study provides a new insight into the Co‐based catalysts in the aerobic oxidation of hydrocarbons. CNTs supported Co@C (Co@C/CNTs) was synthesized and used as the catalyst in the solvent‐free aerobic oxidation of ethylbenzene in the liquid phase. The electron transfer on carbon nanotube surface was enhanced by the incorporation of Co@C nanoparticles, which greatly improved the catalytic activity of ethylbenzene oxidation. The relation between work function and specific activity over Co@C/CNTs catalyst for ethylbenzene oxidation was quantitatively established.