Carbon and Silica Supports Enhance the Durability and Catalytic Performance of Cobalt Oxides Derived from Cobalt Benzene-1,3,5-Tricarboxylate Complex

Addressing the urgent need for robust and sustainable catalysts to detoxify nitroaromatic pollutants, this study introduces a novel approach for synthesizing cobalt oxide nanocomposites via pyrolysis of cobalt benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate. By integrating porous carbon (PC) and nano silica (NS) supports with Co3O4 to form (Co3O4/PC) and (Co3O4/NS), we achieved precise morphological control, as evidenced by SEM and TEM analysis. SEM revealed 80–500 nm Co3O4 microspheres, 300 nm Co3O4/PC microfibers, and 2–5 µm Co3O4/NS spheres composed of 100 nm nanospheres. TEM further confirmed the presence of ~15 nm nanoparticles. Additionally, FTIR spectra exhibited characteristic Co–O bands at 550 and 650 cm−1, while UV–Vis absorption bands appeared in the range of 450–550 nm, confirming the formation of cobalt oxide structures. Catalytic assays toward p-nitrophenol reduction revealed exceptional kinetics (k = 0.459, 0.405, and 0.384 min−1) and high turnover numbers (TON = 5.1, 6.7, and 6.3 mg 4-NP reduced per mg of catalyst), outperforming most of the recently reported systems. Notably, both supported catalysts retained over 95% activity after two regeneration cycles. These findings not only fill a gap in the development of efficient, regenerable cobalt-based catalysts, but also pave the way for practical applications in environmental remediation.