High-Performance CoxNiy@NC/SiO2 Catalysts Derived from ZIF-67 for Enhanced Hydrogenation of 1-Nitronaphthalene

A series of silica-supported, nitrogen-doped carbon-encapsulated cobalt–nickel alloy catalysts (CoxNiy@NC/SiO2) was successfully synthesized and systematically evaluated for the liquid-phase hydrogenation of 1-nitronaphthalene to 1-naphthylamine. Physicochemical characterization confirmed that the incorporation of nickel promotes the formation of Co–Ni alloys and modulates the electronic structure of the catalysts. The catalytic performance was found to be highly sensitive to the Co/Ni ratio, with Co2Ni1@NC/SiO2 exhibiting the most outstanding activity. Under optimized reaction conditions (90 °C, 0.6 MPa H2, 5.5 h), both the conversion of 1-nitronaphthalene and the selectivity toward 1-naphthylamine reached approximately 99%. The catalyst also demonstrated excellent stability and recyclability, attributed to the protective nitrogen-doped carbon shell and the synergistic interaction between the Co–Ni alloy and M–Nx active sites. This work provides a new strategy for designing efficient and robust non-noble-metal catalysts for hydrogenation reactions.