Facile synthesis of green and efficient magnetic nanocomposites of carrageenan/copper for the reduction of nitrophenol derivatives

A green and facile method for preparation of Kappa-Carrageenan or Iota-Carrageenan grafted N,N'-methyl-enebisacrylamide/Fe3O4/Cu nanoparticles (kappa C-g-MBA/MNPs/Cu and tC-g-MBA/MNPs/Cu) catalysts was devel-oped to place copper on a magnetic carrageenan surface. The structure and morphology of the prepared catalysts were identified using FT-IR, XRD, BET, VSM, TGA, EDX, mapping, FE-SEM, TEM, and ICP-OES analyses. The catalytic activity of the catalysts was investigated to reduce 4-nitrophenol, 2-nitrophenol, 3-nitroaniline, and 4-nitroaniline compounds using the UV-Vis spectrum. To reduce 4-nitrophenol using kappa C-g-MBA/MNPs/Cu and tC-g-MBA/MNPs/Cu, the rate constants (Kapp) obtained were 0.37 and 0.25 min(-1), and the activity factors (k') were 134 and 193 s(-1) g(-1), respectively. The catalysts had a good performance in reducing the nitrophenol compounds and due to the magnetic properties of the catalysts, they could easily be separated and used multiple times.

Automated summary

A green and facile method was developed to prepare catalysts with copper fixed on a magnetic carrageenan surface. The structure and morphology of the catalysts were analyzed, and their excellent performance in reducing nitrophenol compounds was confirmed. Due to the magnetic properties, the catalysts could be easily separated and used multiple times.