Phosphorus and nitrogen co-doped graphene for catalytic dehydrochlorination of 1,2-dichloroethane

A phosphorus and nitrogen co-doped graphene (PNG) was developed via a two-step pyrolysis approach through the intermedium of g-C 3 N 4 template and glyphosate as the phosphorus source, and was used for the catalytic dehydrochlorination of 1,2-dichloroethane (EDC) to vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) production. The characterization results indicate that a volcano relationship of surface area and surface properties with the usage of phosphorus precursor was observed, and the sample of PNG-900-6 possesses not only the thin film structure with enhanced surface area but also the smaller grain size of PNG attachments. Accordingly, such PNGs show a great improvement of catalytic performance in the dehydrochlorination of EDC, and the PNG-900-6 catalyst behaves the best with a 4-times higher activity than that on the nitrogen doped graphene (NG). It was also proved that the synergetic effect of the unique P-C coordination on the graphene to generate more quaternary nitrogen species was crucial in determining the catalytic performance of EDC conversion. Our results demonstrate that the phosphorus and nitrogen co-doped graphene offers many advantages in physical structure and chemical property, and are also great potential on the catalytic application in the dehydrochlorination of 1,2-dichloroethane.