Scientists from China, including researchers at Xiamen University, have developed a novel approach to fabricating high-performance single-atom catalysts (SACs) using fungi as a renewable precursor. Their study, published in a June 2024 issue of Chemical Engineering Journal, demonstrates how these biomass-derived SACs can catalyze the selective hydrogenation of nitroaromatic compounds with exceptional activity and selectivity.
While catalysts derived from precious metals like platinum and palladium have traditionally exhibited exceptional performance in facilitating nitroaromatic hydrogenation reactions, their widespread adoption in industrial processes has been hindered by high costs and inadequate selectivity toward desired products.
The researchers selected the fungus Trichoderma afroharzianum (TA) due to its unique attributes. Thanks to its self-assembling growth mode, TA possesses the inherent ability to spontaneously form a 3D crosslinked network structure in its hyphae, allowing for precise modulation of its size and composition by regulating growth factors like time, rotation speed and culture medium. Moreover, its simple culture method, cost-effectiveness and genetic elemental composition make TA a strong candidate for use as a carbon substrate, according to the researchers.
Taking advantage of these attributes, the team synthesized porous and hollow Trichoderma afroharzianum hyphae carbon fibers (TAHCF) through organism self-assembly, which could be prepared in large quantities by heat treatment. Notably, the abundant functional groups in the self-assembled TA hyphae enabled significant metal adsorption capacity, the research team noted.
By harnessing an abundant and renewable biomass source, this catalyst design strategy provides a sustainable and cost-effective approach to tailoring SACs for enhanced catalytic activity in various chemical transformations like nitroaromatic hydrogenation, according to the researchers.
