Copper Nanoparticles Deposited Cellulose Acetate Microfibers as Heterogenous Catalysts for 4-Nitrophenol Reduction in Aqueous Media

Abstract

In this work, copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) loaded cellulose acetate microfibers (CAMFs-Cu) are successfully prepared as a novel heterogenous catalyst. For this purpose, the cellulose acetate microfibers (CAMFs) with a diameter of ca. 300–500 nm are fabricated by electrospinning method. Then, CuNPs are deposited onto the CAMFs via a convenient wet reduction process using copper chloride as precursor and sodium borohydride as reduction agent. The chemical composition of the fabricated CAMFs-Cu is characterized by energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images reveal that the CuNPs with a diameter of approximately 20 nm are homogenously deposited on the CAMFs. The distribution density for the CuNPs increases with precursor concentrations. The catalytic performance shows that the CAMFsCu lead to approximate 100% reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) and the reaction constant increases with deposited Cu content. The CAMFs-Cu heterogenous catalysts are very stable and could be reused up to eight times in consecutive runs without any treatment between the cycles. The CAMFs-Cu is thus expected to have great potential as a highly efficient, cost-effective and eco-friendly reusable catalyst for catalytic applications.