Novel Synthesis of Cu@ZnO and Ag@ZnO Nanocomposite via Green Method: A Comparative Study for Ultra-Rapid Catalytic and Recyclable Effects

The use of metal immobilized/decorated nanocomposites as catalyst were usually used in environmental pollution remediation and protection, industrial production, and biomedical applications. Finding a new and efficient method for the green synthesis of metal nanoparticles immobilized over porous material is of great interest. Synthesis of more stable and outstanding Cu@ZnO and Ag@ZnO nanocomposite for nitro aromatic compound reduction were reported in this work. The metal nanoparticles and nanocomposite was characterized using UV-Vis spectrum, XRD, Raman spectra, TEM, SAED, EDS, and FTIR techniques. The immobilized Cu and Ag nanoparticles are with an average size of 18 and 12 nm on ZnO surface respectively. Comparatively, the Cu/ZnO and Ag/ZnO nanocomposite acted as an efficient heterostructure catalyst in the reduction of p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol than pure Cu and Ag nanoparticles with more stability up to six cycles. The characterization results inferred the synergic effect between metal and porous material played important role in its activity and stability of Cu@ZnO and Ag@ZnO nanocomposite more than pure Cu and Ag nanoparticles. It is proposed that Cu and Ag immobilized ZnO applicable in various catalytic activities were achieved. [GRAPHICS] .