Nanosized nickel decorated sisal fibers with tailored aggregation structures for catalysis reduction of toxic aromatic compounds

Abstract

Integration of highly-active nanoscale metal-based components into unique skeleton materials to enhance their intrinsic properties is significant for the cost-efficient application of catalyst. Here, two sisal fiber templates with different structure were chemically obtained and employed as the supporters to immobilize nickel nanoparticles by electroless deposition method in nickel bath. The coating of nickel nanoparticles (NPs) inherited preferably the micromorphology of fiber with lumen and surface micro convex structure. Compared to sisal fiber bundle (SFB), elementary sisal fibers (ESFs) afford a superior deposited substrate for Ni NPs, which exhibit highest catalytic rate constant 16.14 × 10−3 s−1 and turnover frequency 1.82 × 10−3 mol mol−1 s−1 at 20 °C and molar ratio of NaBH4: p-NP (100) for reduction of p-NP with only 3.39 wt.% Ni. The outstanding performance of Ni/ESFs obtained here can be assigned to the high content of metallic nickel in nanoparticles, the flexible fiber based 3D network and the synergistic effect of Ni NPs and ESFs. Ni/ESF catalysts were also successfully applied for the catalytic hydrogenation of methyl orange (MO) and Rhodamine B (RhB). Moreover, present catalyst further exhibited excellent reusability derived from their stable physic-chemical structure and magnetically separable feature in the catalytic reaction. As a result, supported by the widely-available sisal fiber templates with tailored structures, present catalysts show the certain superiority in cost-effective hydrogenation of refractory aromatic pollutants compared to the catalysts reported in the literatures.