Vacancy-Rich Carbon-Coated Niobium Carbide Prepared via Carbothermal Reduction of Biomass-Based Carbon Precursors for Efficient Catalytic Epoxidation

Due to their unique physical and chemical properties, transition metal carbides are expected to play a crucial role in catalysis, energy storage, and electrochemistry. In this study, a vacancy-rich carbon-coated niobium carbide material (NbC@C) was prepared via a simple and relatively milder carbothermic reduction method, sourced from niobium tartrate and sustainable biomass derivatives, glucose, and resorcinol. The formation mechanism of NbC@C materials was proposed with the help of XRD and temperature-programmed decomposition-mass spectrometer. Moreover, high activity for epoxidation of cyclooctene was obtained over the NbC@C material with an impressive yield (93.7%) of epoxycyclooctane, which was much higher than that over commercial NbC-C. The excellent catalytic performance of NbC@C can be ascribed to the high concentration of vacancies generated during the carbothermic reduction process.