Interfacial-interaction-induced fabrication of biomass-derived porous carbon with enhanced intrinsic active sites

Carbon catalysis is an attractive metal-free catalytic transformation, and its performance is significantly dependent on the number of accessible active sites. However, owing to the inherent stability of the C–C linkage, only limited active sites at the edge defects of the basal plane can be obtained even after a harsh oxidation treatment. In this study, the concept of interfacial interactions was adopted to propose an efficient strategy to develop highly active carbon catalysts. The alumina/carbon interface formed in situ acted as a cradle for the generation of oxygen-containing functional groups. In the absence of oxidation treatment, the concentration of oxygen-containing functional groups and the specific surface area can reach 1.27 mmol·g−1 and 2340 m2·g−1, respectively, which are significantly higher than those of carbon prepared by traditional hard template methods. This active carbon shows a significant enhancement in catalytic performance in the oxidative coupling of amine to imine, about 22-fold higher than that of a well-known graphite oxide catalyst. Such interfacial interaction strategies are based on sustainable carbon sources and can effectively tune the porous structure of carbon in the micro- and meso-ranges. This conceptual finding offers new opportunities for the development of high-performance carbon-based metal-free catalysts.