Brawny Silver-Hydrogel Based Nanocatalyst for Reduction of Nitrophenols: Studies on Kinetics and Mechanism

The present work demonstrates the preparation and characterization of silver nanoparticles-ensnared hydrogel and demonstrated its catalytic efficiency for the reduction of a series of nitrophenols. SPAG was synthesized via simultaneous polymerization of acrylic acid and in situ reduction of silver nitrate in the presence of amidodiol. Reduction process in the presence of SPAG exhibited a first-order reaction with a lower activation energy path (28.0, 30.7, and 33.8 kJ/mol for p-nitrophenol, o-nitrophenol, and m-nitrophenol, respectively) and the reduction mechanism is found to be obeying the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model.