Abstract
We report the influence of sp(2) content in carbon catalyst on the catalytic activity for acetylene hydrochlorination. Nanodiamonds (NDs) were used as the precursor and calcinated under different temperatures. The resulting ND500, ND700, ND900, and ND1100 catalysts were characterized, and the sp(2) content increased with increasing calcination temperature. The specific activities of the catalysts first increased and then decreased with increasing sp(2) content. The highest catalytic activity could be obtained in the ND-900 catalyst with a sp(2) value of 43.9%. The density functional theory results showed that the adsorption sites for acetylene and hydrogen chloride were located at the interface between sp(2) and sp(3) configuration.