Porous poly(lactic acid)/nano-silver composite membranes for catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol

A simple and eco-friendly method has been developed for the capping of silver nanoparticles by poly(lactic acid); executed through the reduction of silver ions by glucose. Compared to the currently available methods, the present work specifically highlights the possible in situ reduction and the stabilizing effect through a reaction occurring at water-dichloromethane interface to develop nanocomposites for the catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol. The strategy followed has been found to play a crucial role in controlling the size of the silver nanoparticles and their enveloping by the poly(lactic acid) matrix for the stability of the system for a long period. The nanocomposite derived from poly(lactic acid), embedded with 20% silver nitrate, has been found to show enhanced catalytic activity than the other developed compositions, towards the sodium borohydride reduction of 4-nitrophenol. The catalytic system has been observed to retain its performance up to four cycles of operation. The complete reduction of 4-nitrophenol has been observed to be achievable within 8 min using the new silver/poly(lactic acid) nanocomposite, with the possibility for scaling up for industrial applications.