Facile and Green Synthesis of Clean Porous Pd/2D-material Nanocomposites with Improved Catalytic Properties in 4-nitrophenol Reduction Reaction - The First Part

Abstract

Background: The development of environment-friendly and cost-effective palladium( Pd) based nanocomposite is of high interest for catalytic applications. Objective and Methods: In this paper, a porous Pd/two-dimensional-material (graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO)) nanocomposite was synthesized with a green and facile method, without adding any additional reductant, surfactant and special solvent. Results: The catalytic activity of the Pd/rGO composite was investigated using the 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) reduction reaction in the presence of sodium borohydride (NaBH4). The results showed that the Pd/rGO nanocomposite not only exhibited much higher catalytic activity than the pure porous Pd catalyst but also showed a very good catalytic stability due to the less Pd aggregation and increased local 4-NP concentration arose from rGO bonding attraction. Besides, the Pd-rGO nanocomposite showed a kapp value of 0.383 min-1, which was 13 times higher than the pure Pd (0.0292 min-1), as well as a reliable 4-NP conversion rate of over 97%. Conclusion: This study may provide a route for green-design and synthesis of heterogeneous catalyst composites with lower cost and better performance.