Magnetic selenium-doped graphitic carbon nitride nanocomposite as an effective catalyst support for stabilization of Cu NPs

Abstract

In the present study, for the first time, a magnetic graphitic carbon nitride doped with selenium (Se-g-C3N4/Fe3O4) nanocomposite was designed and fabricated by incorporation of selenium to g-C3N4 via a facile thermal condensation technique and hybridization with Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The prepared Se-g-C3N4/Fe3O4 nanocomposite was then applied as ideal catalyst support for the immobilization of copper nanoparticles to prepare the Se-g-C3N4/Fe3O4/Cu nanocatalyst. The structure of Se-g-C3N4/Fe3O4/Cu was comprehensively identified by different spectroscopic and microscopic analyses like FT-IR, TGA, XPS, XRD, VSM, EDX, EDX mapping, FE-SEM, and AAS. The as-fabricated nanocomposite exhibited high catalytic performance in the three-component reaction using various aldehydes, secondary amines, and terminal alkynes and the corresponding propargylamines were gained in good to excellent yields (65–98%) under solvent-free conditions at 110 °C for 3.5 h. Also, this copper nanocatalyst exhibited good stability and could be easily separated using an external magnetic field and reused four times with a slight decrease in its activity. The excellent catalytic performance and stability of the nanocatalyst can be related to the effective interaction between the support and the well-dispersed copper nanoparticles.