Efficient and recyclable palladium enriched magnetic nanocatalyst for reduction of toxic environmental pollutants

In this paper, highly stable, powerful, and recyclable magnetic nanoparticles tethered N-heterocyclic carbene-palladium(II) ((CH3)(3)-NHC-Pd@Fe3O4) as magnetic nanocatalyst was successfully synthesized from a simplistic multistep synthesis under aerobic conditions through easily available low-cost chemicals. Newly synthesized (CH3)(3)-NHC-Pd@Fe3O4 magnetic nanocatalyst was characterized from various analytical tools and catalytic potential of the (CH3)3-NHC-Pd@Fe3O4 magnetic nanocatalyst was studied for the catalytic reduction of toxic 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)), Methylene Blue (MB) and Methyl Orange (MO) at room temperature in aqueous media. UV-Visible spectroscopy was employed to monitor the reduction reactions. New (CH3)(3)-NHC-Pd@Fe3O4 magnetic nanocatalyst exhibited excellent catalytic activity for the reduction of toxic environmental pollutants. Moreover, (CH3)(3)-NHC-Pd@Fe3O4 magnetic nanocatalyst could be easily and rapidly separated from the reaction mixture with the help of an external magnet and recycled minimum five times in reduction of 4 -NP, MB, MO and four times in Cr(VI) without significant loss of catalytic potential and remains stable even after reuse. (C) 2020 The Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated summary

This paper successfully synthesized a highly stable, powerful, and recyclable magnetic nanoparticle tethered N-heterocyclic carbene-palladium(II) as a nanocatalyst for catalytic reduction of toxic environmental pollutants. The newly synthesized nanocatalyst exhibited excellent catalytic activity and could be easily separated and recycled multiple times without significant loss of catalytic potential.