Gold, silver and nickel nanoparticle anchored cellulose nanofiber composites as highly active catalysts for the rapid and selective reduction of nitrophenols in water

Highly active metal nanoparticle (MNP) supported cellulose nanofiber (CNF) composites (Au/CNF, Ni/CNF and Ag/CNF) were prepared for the reduction of 4- and 2-nitrophenols (4-NP and 2-NP) in water. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed that the ultrafine nanoparticles (Au, Ni and Ag NP...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:RSC advances 2018-01, Vol.8 (6), p.3014-3023
Main Authors: Gopiraman, Mayakrishnan, Deng, Dian, Saravanamoorthy, Somasundaram, Chung, Ill-Min, Kim, Ick Soo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Catalysis
Catalysts
Catalytic activity
Cellulose
Chemistry
Electron microscopy
Gold
Image transmission
Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry
Nanocomposites
Nanofibers
Nanoparticles
Nickel
Silver
Spectrum analysis
X ray photoelectron spectroscopy
X-ray diffraction
X-rays
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Summary:Highly active metal nanoparticle (MNP) supported cellulose nanofiber (CNF) composites (Au/CNF, Ni/CNF and Ag/CNF) were prepared for the reduction of 4- and 2-nitrophenols (4-NP and 2-NP) in water. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed that the ultrafine nanoparticles (Au, Ni and Ag NPs) were uniformly deposited on CNFs surface. The content of Au (9.7 wt%), Ni (21.5 wt%) and Ag (22.6 wt%) in Au/CNF, Ni/CNF and Ag/CNF respectively was determined by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and inductive coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) analysis. The chemical state of the MNPs in Au/CNF, Ni/CNF and Ag/CNF was determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The significant metal-support interaction was studied by means of XPS. The Au/CNF, Ni/CNF and Ag/CNF demonstrated excellent catalytic activity towards the reduction of nitrophenols to aminophenols in water. To our delight, even a very low amount of catalyst was also found to be good enough to achieve 100% reduction of 4- and 2-NP with a higher reaction rate (within 5 min). The best rate constant ( ) values were determined for the cellulose nanocomposites. To the best our knowledge, Au/CNF, Ni/CNF and Ag/CNF are the most efficient nanocatalysts for the reduction of 4- and 2-NP reported to date. The catalytic performance of Au/CNF, Ni/CNF and Ag/CNF was compared with previously reported results. A possible mechanism has been proposed for these catalytic systems.
ISSN:2046-2069
2046-2069
DOI:10.1039/c7ra10489h