Design Synthesis of Nitrogen-Doped TiO2@Carbon Nanosheets toward Selective Nitroaromatics Reduction under Mild Conditions

The development of a facile, low-cost, and eco-friendly approach to the synthesis of aromatic amines remains a great scientific challenge. TiO2, as a low-cost and earth abundant metal oxide, is usually not active for thermo-catalyzed nitro reduction. Herein, we report a composite nanosheet catalyst, composed of nitrogen-doped TiO2 and carbon (N-TiO2@C), which exhibits highly efficient, thermo-catalytic performance for selective nitroaromatic reduction at room temperature. The N-TiO2@C nanosheet catalyst is synthesized via a facile approach where C3N4 nanosheets are utilized not only as a structure-directing agent to control the shape, size, and crystal phase of TiO2 but also as a source of nitrogen for doping into both TiO2 and carbon nanosheets. Furthermore, the origin of the superior performance of the N-TiO2@C nanosheet composite catalyst, along with a possible nitroaromatic reduction mechanism, has also been explored.