Copper nanoparticles supported on permeable monolith with carboxylic acid surface functionality: Stability and catalytic properties under reductive conditions

This work reported on the immobilization of copper metallic nanoparticles at the interface of mercaptosuccinic acid-functionalized N-acryloxysuccinimide-based monoliths. Upon photochemically-mediated free radical copolymerization of N-acryloxysuccinimide reactive monomer with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate cross-linker, reactive monoliths were obtained. Nucleophilic substitution of the N-hydroxysuccinimide moieties with allylamine, allowed for the synthesis of an olefin-functionalized monolith, as demonstrated by Raman spectroscopy. Mercaptosuccinic acid was anchored at the surface of the porous polymeric material through photochemically-driven thiol-ene click addition. In a final step, adsorption of copper nanoparticles at the surface of the resulting carboxylic acid functionalized monolith was achieved via two distinct pathways. It was either realized by percolation of a suspension of pre-formed copper nanoparticles through the capillary or by in situ reduction of Cu(II)Br-2 salt solution preliminary flown through the monolith. After characterization of the resulting hybrids by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, investigations were further pursued regarding the catalytic behavior of such hybrid materials. The possibility to reduce 2-nitrophenol into the corresponding 2-aminophenol within a few minutes via a flow-through process inside the hybrid monolithic capillary was notably successfully demonstrated. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.