Facile preparation of SBA-15-supported carbon nitride materials for high-performance base catalysis

•Mesoporous CND/SBA-15 was prepared via a simple impregnation procedure.•No etching step with acid and hazardous HF solution demanded.•High performances in both Knoevenagel condensation and transesterification.•Superior catalytic activities to other mesoporous CN materials.

SBA-15-supported carbon nitride materials were prepared using dicyandiamide as a precursor through a facile impregnation method. The synthesized CND/SBA-15 materials were characterized by various techniques, including N2 adsorption–desorption, small angle X-ray scattering, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), CO2 temperature-programmed desorption, etc. The results indicated that CND/SBA-15 retained the well-ordered mesoporous structure of SBA-15. The introduction of CN materials enhanced the overall basic quantity of SBA-15 and the basic sites were owing to the nitrogen-containing sites of CN materials, as revealed by FT-IR results. As solid base catalysts, CND/SBA-15 materials featuring easy preparation as well as high catalytic performances demonstrated their potential application in both Knoevenagel condensation and transesterification reactions.

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