Abstract
In this work, a novel ternary magnetic nanocomposite namely Ag/CuFe2O4/rGO was produced by a facile solvothermal route. The reduction of graphene oxide (GO) to reduced form (rGO) and the in-situ deposition of CuFe2O4 and Ag nanoparticles on rGO occurred simultaneously in a one-pot reaction. The structure, composition and morphology of the as-prepared nanocomposite were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, VSM, FESEM, EDX, TEM, and BET analyses. The results indicated that the Ag and CuFe2O4 nanoparticles were successfully loaded on the surface of rGO. The catalytic performance of the Ag/CuFe2O4/rGO nanocomposite was evaluated for the reduction of nitroarenes to corresponding amines in the presence of sodium borohydride (NaBH4) as a reducing agent. The nanocomposite exhibited the high performance in the reduction of the reduction of nitroarenes with 100% conversion within 10-30 min. The catalytic activity of the Ag/CuFe2O4/rGO was enhanced compared with Ag/CuFe2O4, Ag/rGO and CuFe2O4/rGO samples due to easier electron transfer process. Furthermore, the adsorption data revealed that cationic methylene blue (MB) dye could be removed almost completely on the Ag/CuFe2O4/rGO composite within 2 min and the composite could also selectively adsorb MB from the mixed solution with anionic methyl orange (MO). Due to the existence of magnetic CuFe2O4 nanoparticles, the Ag/CuFe2O4/rGO nanocomposite can be magnetically separated and reused without any change in structure and performance.
Highlights
Nitroarenes are one of the most common pollutants that often exist in industrial wastewaters, while aromatic amines are of various commercial importance as an intermediate for the production of pharmaceutical ingredients, various polymers and dyes.[1,2,3]
All reagents including solvents and all materials used for the synthesis of nanocomposite, 2-nitrophenol (2-NP), 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), 2-nitroaniline (2-NA), 4-nitroaniline (4-NA), sodium borohydride (NaBH4), methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) were purchased from Merck or Sigma-Aldrich company with high purity (≥ 98%) and used without further purification
3 mg of the Ag/CuFe2O4/rGO nanocatalyst was added into the solution and the progress of reduction was monitored by UV-Vis spectrophotometer in the range of 200–800 nm, with cycling over definite time intervals at room temperature
Summary
Nitroarenes are one of the most common pollutants that often exist in industrial wastewaters, while aromatic amines are of various commercial importance as an intermediate for the production of pharmaceutical ingredients, various polymers and dyes.[1,2,3] synthesis of aminoarenes from the corresponding nitro compounds is an important process in the chemical industries and several methods for preparation of them were found, such as stoichiometric reducing agents and catalytic hydrogenation.[4,5,6,7] A large amount of industrial wastewaters contain organic dye pollutants. Strength.[26] It can be used as a promising catalyst support on which the metal nanocatalysts can be stabilized and result in the further enhanced catalytic performance.[27,28] One of the applications of graphene-based materials is the removal of organic dye pollutants from water.[29,30] Many polymeric and inorganic adsorbents such as carbon-based materials,[31] porous metal oxides,[32] clays,[33] chitosan,[34] zeolites,[35] and metal–organic frameworks (MOFs)[36] have developed for adsorption removal of pollutants from aqueous solutions. Carbonous materials such as graphene have shown excellent performance in adsorption of organic contaminants from water Such adsorbents are usually separated by tedious filtrating from water after the adsorption/catalytic process. The magnetic properties of CuFe2O4 make the separation of the nanocomposite easier, avoiding environmental contamination from processing
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