Highly Stable and Active Palladium Nanoparticles Supported on a Mesoporous UiO66@reduced Graphene Oxide Complex for Practical Catalytic Applications

A metal-organic framework-based composite with reduced graphene oxide was successfully designed, prepared and used for the first time as a support for Pd nanoparticles. The as-synthesized UiO66@RGO-Pd composite was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal gravimetric analyses (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and N-2 adsorption. The reduction of nitro compounds was used to demonstrate the catalytic efficiency, which showed excellent activity due to the large surface area and well-defined pore structure. Additionally, the Pd NPs confined in mesoporous cages could be readily recovered after simple filtration and reused for at least six consecutive cycles without loss of activity.