Manganese oxide supported partially reduced graphene oxide as a highly active and durable catalyst for the amination of benzene

Abstract

We report the preparation by a simple one-pot wet process of nanocomposites of different loading of manganese oxide supported on partially reduced graphene oxide (MnO2/pRGO). The nanocomposites showed excellent catalytic activity for the one-step amination of benzene. The 5 wt% MnO2/pRGO catalyst showed good efficiency towards benzene conversion (77%) with 100% selectivity towards aniline under mild reaction conditions for 90 min at 70 °C. From the recycle experiments, a 12% decrease in conversion after the 4th run was found. The new catalytic materials were characterised by XRD, HRTEM, SEM, Raman techniques and N2 physical adsorption measurements.

Keywords

• Manganese oxide
• Partially reduced graphene oxide
• Nanocomposites
• Single-step conversion
• Benzene to aniline
• Single product