Nitrogen-doped porous carbon-immobilized NiCo bimetallic alloy nanoparticles derived from Ni-bio-MOFs and Co-DESs: an efficient and magnetic catalyst for the reduction of nitroarenes

Combining bio-MOFs and deep eutectic solvents as promising precursors provides novel ideas for researchers to fabricate high-performance porous carbon-based materials. In the present work, a series of nitrogen-doped porous carbon-supported NiCo alloy nanoparticles (denoted as NiCo@NC) were prepared using simple one-pot pyrolysis of mixtures of Ni-bioMOFs, Co-based DESs, and starch under an N₂ atmosphere at different temperatures. Among the as-prepared catalysts, NiCo@NC-800 exhibited outstanding catalytic performance and selectivity for the hydrogenation of various nitroaromatic compounds under mild conditions (30 mg, 3 mmol NaBH₄, 75 °C, in the presence of H₂O as green solvent).

Moreover, the utilization of inexpensive, green, and safe precursors, facile synthetic route, short reaction times, performing the reactions in mild and eco-friendly conditions in the absence of any organic solvent, and reproducibility of NiCo@NC-800 for four runs without an obvious decrease in catalytic activity, are some benefits of this catalytic system that make it a huge potential for sustainable chemistry applications.