Epsilon Cobalt Nanoparticles as Highly Performant Catalysts in Cinnamaldehyde Selective Hydrogenation

Epsilon cobalt nanoparticles are underexplored in catalysis due to the fact that they accessible only through wet-chemical approaches, which employ ligands as stabilizing agents. Ligands may play a significant role determining structure and catalytic performances of nanoparticles, complicates their comparison catalysis. Here, we present cinnamaldehyde hydrogenation freestanding few-layer graphene-supported ?-Co hexagonal close-packed (hcp)-Co nanorods, stabilized by same ligands. We show while hcp-Co nanorods exposing majority {112?0}-type facets most active, supported spherical combine high activity excellent selectivity for selective cinnamyl alcohol. The concentration-dependent ligand conformation on surface nanostructures influences performances, with higher concentrations favoring both These results should incite interest implementation other reactions where crystal an important role.