Facile synthesis of highly catalytic activity Ni–Co–Pd–P composite for reduction of the p-Nitrophenol

Abstract

A simple hydrothermal method was developed for the one-step synthesis of an urchin-like Ni@Ni3P@CoP2@P composite. p-Nitrophenol can be completely reduced to p-Aminophenol using the as-synthesized composites as catalysts, and the reaction was monitored by UV–vis spectroscopy. Further research implied that the presence of Co greatly improves the catalytic ability of the composites for the reduction of p-Nitrophenol . Palladium (Pd) nanoparticles (NPs) were subsequently loaded into the Ni–Co–P composites to obtain better catalytic effects. Aside from excellent catalytic ability for reducing p-Nitrophenol, the strong magnetism of the as-prepared Ni–Co–Pd–P composites allowed the facile collection of the catalysts from the reaction system. After using the as-synthesized Ni–Co–Pd–P compounds seven times every 15min, recyclability was estimated by monitoring the formation of p-Aminophenol using the catalysts via UV–vis spectroscopy. The as-synthesized Ni–Co–Pd–P composites presented good catalytic ability and excellent recyclability for the reduction of p-Nitrophenol .