Magnetite incorporated amine-functional SiO2 support for bimetallic Cu-Ni alloy nanoparticles produced highly effective nanocatalyst

In this article, inclusion of iron oxide (Fe3O4) in amine functional silica (SiO2-NH2) support is attempted to see any improvement in catalytic property for anchored bimetallic Cu-Ni alloy nanoparticles. The Fe3O4-SiO2-NH2 support is first prepared by one-step solvothermal route. Secondly, bimetallic Cu-Ni alloy nanoparticles are generated on the Fe3O4-SiO2-NH2 support via in-situ simultaneous sorption and reduction of Cu and Ni ions. The resulting product, named as Fe3O4-SiO2-NH2/Cu-Ni nanocatalyst, contained face-centered-cubic (fcc) bimetallic Cu-Ni alloy with average crystallite size of 4.76 nm and possessed strong paramagnetic character (27.76 emu g(-1)). The Fe3O4-SiO2-NH2/Cu-Ni nanocatalyst showed faster reduction kinetics for the conversion of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) compared to both unsupported Cu-Ni and supported SiO2-NH2/Cu-Ni nanocatalysts. The Fe3O4-SiO2-NH2/Cu-Ni nanocatalyst is recoverable magnetically and reused up to 6th cycle without any drop in activity, producing 100% conversion at pH 6. The reduction reaction preferably followed the pseudo-first-order kinetic rate model. Overall, the catalytic activity and recycle stability of bimetallic Cu-Ni nanocatalyst enhanced dramatically following the use of magnetic Fe3O4-SiO2-NH2 composite support. Additionally, the prepared Fe3O4-SiO2-NH2/Cu-Ni nanocatalyst possessed good application potential as antibacterial agent due to the presence of Cu-Ni.

Automated summary

In this study, the catalytic activity and recycle stability of bimetallic Cu-Ni nanocatalyst were significantly improved by using a magnetic Fe3O4-SiO2-NH2 composite support. The prepared catalyst exhibited faster reaction rate and good recycle stability in the reduction of 4-nitrophenol.