Designed Meso‐macroporous Silica Framework Impregnated with Copper Oxide Nanoparticles for Enhanced Catalytic Performance

Abstract

AbstractThe template efficacy of solid lipid nanoparticles for generating porous silica materials with the amalgamation of Cu‐functionalized cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC; as a co‐emulsifier and as a metal source for generation of CuO oxide nanoparticles) has been explored. Impregnation of CuO nanoparticles (∼10–12 nm) onto the silica matrix proffers to be a propitious route for the fabrication of twin sized porous, highly active catalytic materials. The surface morphology and structural characterization of the synthesized CuO@meso‐macroporous silica framework was elucidated by TEM, field ‐emission (FE)‐SEM, energy‐dispersive X‐ray (EDX), wavelength dispersive (WD)‐XRF, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS), XRD, and N2 adsorption/desorption studies. All the results have shown that there exists a structural network interconnecting the mesopores with macropores. The catalytic performance of the synthesized framework (ascribed catalyst) was checked for two model reactions. For the reduction of p‐nitrophenol to p‐aminophenol, only 0.25 % (w/v) catalyst was sufficient to accomplish the reaction in 6 min, giving 99.9 % yield. On the other hand, the redox reaction of potassium hexacyanoferrate(III) and sodium thiosulfate utilized 5 % (w/v) catalyst and completed the reaction in 40 min, yielding 98.43 %. Therefore, CuO@meso‐macroporous silica materials could hold great importance in the world of nanocatalysis owing to the present promising results.