Poly(ionic liquid)/Wood Composite-Derived B/N-Codoped Porous Carbons Possessing Peroxidase-like Catalytic Activity

The pursuit of efficient and cost-effective metal-free heterogeneous catalytic systems remains a challenging task in materials research. Heteroatom-doped carbonaceous materials are increasingly recognized as powerful metal-free catalysts, often demonstrating catalytic performance comparable to or even surpassing metal-based alternatives. This is attributed to their tunable physicochemical properties, tailorable structural features, and environmentally friendly profile. In a straightforward single-step synthetic approach, we utilized wood as an eco-friendly and renewable carbon source, in conjunction with a poly(ionic liquid) as a heteroatom source and pore-making agent. The combination of both biobased and synthetic polymers in this method yielded sustainable, high-performance catalysts characterized by enhanced stability and reusability. The inclusion of sacrificial pore-inducing templates resulted in the formation of abundant defects serving as catalytically active sites, while codoping with boron and nitrogen further enhanced these sites, significantly impacting catalytic activities, as established by peroxidase-like activity in this study. The optimized codoped porous carbon membrane exhibited excellent peroxidase-type activity and catalyzed the oxidation reaction of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine by hydrogen peroxide. This high activity was largely due to the dual heteroatom codoping effect and the mixed micro/macroporous structure of the membrane. Our work presents a versatile and eco-friendly method for fabricating hierarchically porous B/N codoped carbon membranes, offering a manageable, convenient, and recyclable biomimetic artificial enzyme with superior catalytic capabilities. This work introduces a practical and robust colorimetric method that can be used in healthcare and environmental rehabilitation.