Nickel hydroxide nanoparticles decorated napthalene sulfonic acid-doped polyaniline nanotubes as efficient catalysts for nitroarene reduction

Abstract

Nanosize nickel hydroxide decorated 2-napthalene sulfonic acid-doped polyaniline nanotubes nanocomposites (Ni(OH)2@NSA-PANI NCs) were successfully developed for the catalytic reduction of aromatic nitro compounds. The Ni(OH)2@NSA-PANI NCs were synthesised by depositing Ni(OH)2 nanoparticles onto 2-napthalene sulfonic acid doped PANI nanotubes surface. The resulting material was characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), powder X-ray diffraction (P-XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The prepared nanocomposite showed a remarkable ability to catalytically hydrogenate aromatic nitro compounds using sodium borohydride (NaBH4) as hydrogen source in aqueous medium at room temperature. Kinetic studies were performed using 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) as the model substrate, using the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model. The catalyst showed pseudo-first-order kinetics, with rate constants estimated between 0.08287 and 0.3649 min−1. Catalyst recyclability without reduced activity was demonstrated over 10 successive cycles. The optimised nanocomposite catalyst demonstrated a low activation energy barrier towards 4-NP reduction.