Robust and efficient catalyst derived from bimetallic Zn/Co zeolitic imidazolate frameworks for CO2 conversion.

Graphical abstract Highlights • A robust heterogeneous catalyst derived from Zn/Co-ZIF is explored for the CO 2 conversion. • A fast production of the Zn/Co-ZIF template with high crystallinity was achieved via spray drying. • Excellent dispersion of the metal in the N-doped carbon matrix was demonstrated. • The metal and the N-sites in the carbon matrix act as catalytic sites. • The magnetic properties of the catalyst allowed easy separation and recycling. Abstract A robust catalyst generated from the pyrolysis of bimetallic Zn/Co-ZIF comprising magnetic properties demonstrated to be an effective heterogeneous catalyst system for CO 2 conversion reaction without the need of co-catalyst and solvent. Controllable pyrolysis under various conditions resulted in a unique active structure composed of metallic particles stabilized in a nitrogen-doped carbon matrix. The metallic particles acting as acid sites are dispersed in a nitrogen-doped porous carbon-wall which provides the basic sites. These sites are created during the pyrolysis process of Zn/Co-ZIF used as a special template under a controlled atmosphere. The resulting material possessing both, acid and basic sites, showed an excellent catalytic performance for the cycloaddition of CO 2 into epoxides as these sites correspond to the active sites in the catalytic cycle. Additional, the pyrolysis conditions indicated to play an important role in the properties of the resulting materials and in parallel with the catalytic performance. The catalytic material proved to be very robust and maintained high activities for at least eleven cycles using the optimized reaction condition. Moreover, the magnetic property of the resulting catalyst is advantageous especially for the separation from the reaction mixture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]