Facile Synthesis and Catalytic Application of Silver-Deposited Magnetic Nanoparticles

In this work, we have investigated a novel one-step fabrication of Ag-deposited Fe2O3 nanoparticles and their application for the catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol by NaBH4. To deposit Ag onto them, Fe2O3 particles were dispersed in a reaction mixture consisting of ethanolic AgNO3 and butylamine, and then the reaction mixture was incubated and shaken for 40 min at 45 A degrees C. With this simple and surfactant-free fabrication of Ag-deposited Fe2O3 nanoparticles, we can avoid contamination in the final product, which makes them suitable for further catalytic applications. Since the magnetic particles are readily recovered from the solution phase without centrifugation and/or filtering, the Ag-deposited Fe2O3 nanoparticles prepared in this work have been exploited as solid phase catalysts for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol in the presence of NaBH4. At the end of the reaction, the Ag-deposited Fe2O3 catalyst particles still remain active. They can thus be separated from the product, 4-aminophenol, simply using a neodium magnet and can be recycled a number of times.