Fabrication of a new magnetic CoFe2O4/ZrMCM-41 nanocomposite: Simple construction and application for fast reduction of Cr(IV) and nitroaromatic compounds

Abstract

A new type of CoFe2O4/ZrMCM-41 nanocomposite was fabricated via sonochemical method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and N2 adsorption desorption analyses. Different dosages of CoFe2O4 (10, 25 and 40 wt%) were deposited on the framework of ZrMCM-41 to design a series of magnetic nanocatalysts. SEM and EDX confirmed that the small-sized CoFe2O4 particles were uniformly distributed on the ZrMCM-41 framework. The magnetic CoFe2O4/ZrMCM-41 nanocomposite was used as a catalyst for the reduction of nitroaromatic compounds including 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), 2-nitrophenol (2-NP), 4-nitroaniline(4-NA) and 2-nitroaniline (2-NA) and carcinogenic Cr(VI) at room temperature using NaBH4 as a reducing agent. The best performance observed for 100% reduction of 4-nitrophenol belongs to CoFe2O4/ZrMCM-41 25%, which occurs within 6 min, and the estimated rate constant is 0.97 min−1. In addition, the prepared CoFe2O4/ZrMCM-41 nanocomposites can be properly regenerated and reused for up to four cycles under an additional magnetic field without significant changes in its structure and activity. Therefore CoFe2O4/ZrMCM-41 nanocomposite could possibly be utilized for large scale applications.