Metallosurfactants derived Pd-NiO nanocomposite for remediation of nitrophenol in water

Abstract

The present report focuses on the efficient and operationally simple synthesis of Pd-based nanocomposite (NCs) such as Pd-NiO NCs using bisdodecylamine palladium (II) chloride and bisdodecylamine nickel (II) chloride metallosurfactants as precursors. Unlike other synthetic approaches, the metallosurfactant precursors ensured the simultaneous formation of metal and metal oxide components of NCs. As-obtained Pd-NiO NCs were having uniform size distribution (12–20 nm) and showed remarkable catalytic activity in remediation of well-known organic pollutant, 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), at the room temperature. A typical reaction involving the reduction of the 4-NP to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) using sodium borohydride was studied by varying various parameters such as catalyst dose, 4-NP and sodium borohydride concentrations. The performance of the catalyst was monitored using UV–Vis spectroscopy and the reaction was found to follow pseudo-first order kinetics. The catalytic efficiency of the synthesized Pd-NiO NCs was assessed in terms of their rate constant values. The mechanism involved the adsorption-desorption of 4-NP over the active sites of NCs. Owing to its significant catalytic activity, the present system qualifies both in terms of efficiency and economic viability over pure Pd systems. Further, the work is anticipated to open up new insights into designing of high performance metal-metal oxide based NCs for variety of applications.