MoS2 nanosheets/silver nanoparticles anchored onto textile fabric as "dip catalyst" for synergistic p-nitrophenol hydrogenation.

Abstract

Attaining a synergistic merge between the performance of homogenous catalysts and the recyclability of heterogeneous catalysts remains until now a concerning issue. The main challenge is to design efficient, low-cost catalyst with outstanding reusability, facile recovery, and ease of retrieval and monitoring between the reuses. Despite the vast efforts in the development of silver nanoparticle-based catalyst for the reaction of hydrogenation of 4-nitrophenol, the aforementioned criteria are infrequently found in a chosen system. Herein, we report a MoS2 nanosheet/silver nanoparticle-anchored PES-based textile as an efficient and recyclable "dip catalyst" for the 4-NP hydrogenation in the presence of sodium bohydride as model reaction. The textile fabric-based catalyst was processed via a simple sono-coating approach using MoS2 nanosheets as first coating layer followed by an in situ deposition of silver nanoparticles. The "dip catalyst" fabric is rapidly and easily removed from the reaction and then reinserted in the batch system to attain over 10 reaction cycles. Additionally, the produced textile materials were characterized via spectroscopic and microscopic tools such as FTIR, XRD, SEM, and EDX. Moreover, the sources of the high catalytic activity are also discussed and a plausible reaction mechanism is suggested. The present study demonstrates the potential of metal nanoparticle-textile material combination for future applications in chemical sustainable catalysis for environmental remediation purposes.