A palladium complex immobilized onto a magnetic GO-MnFe₂O₄ surface as an effective and recyclable catalyst for the reduction of <i>p</i>-nitrophenol

Abstract

A magnetically separable palladium complex on a GO-MnFe₂O₄ surface has been synthesized by covalent immobilization of a palladium complex on the magnetic GO-MnFe₂O₄ surface functionalized with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES). In general, magnetic, iron based materials (MnFe₂O₄) are effective in many catalytic reactions and are advantageous compared with other metal oxides due to their magnetic recyclability. The catalytic activities of these nanohybrids have been studied in p-nitrophenol (p-Nip) reduction. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize the catalyst. The successful incorporation of the palladium complex onto GO-MnFe₂O₄ has been confirmed by FT-IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and ICP-AES. The intact structure of GO-MnFe₂O₄ was verified by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) and TEM. The strong reduction of p-nitrophenol was shown by the palladium complex on GO-MnFe₂O₄. This magnetic heterogeneous catalyst was well recoverable with no significant loss of activity and selectivity after five successive runs.