Formation and catalytic potential of sheet like nanostructured amino functionalized graphene oxide Schiff's base immobilized by Cu nanoparticles in Click reaction, oxidation of fluorene and in photodegradation of methylene blue

Abstract

A heterogeneous catalyst, environmentally benign, containing copper immobilized over amino functionalized Schiff's base graphene oxide was prepared. The prepared nanocatalyst was explored in various organic transformations such as in tri-azoles formation, in oxidation and the degradation of methylene blue. Click chemistry was employed in the formation of triazoles for the construction of carbon-heteroatom bonds which have many applications ranging from drug discovery to material science. Our present work focused on graphene-based nanocatalyst (Cu @NH2GO) which provided excellent efficiency and catalytic activity in carrying out organic transformations. The prepared nanocatalyst was characterized and examined by various spectroscopic techniques such as X-ray diffraction (PXRD), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), EDX, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), Fourier transformer infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). TEM images showed the light grey sheets of silane functionalized Schiff's base on which Cu nanoparticles were immobilized. The catalyst was also explored for the degradation of methylene blue which provided an effective path for the treatment of wastewater. Methylene Blue is one of the environmentally persistent, carcinogenic and mutagenic cationic dyes. A large volume of methylene blue containing wastewater is discharged into groundwater or surface water. So it becomes necessary to degrade the toxic dye by the use of a prepared nanocatalyst (Cu @NH2GO). Moreover, the catalyst possesses excellent stability and reusability.