Fe3O4 Nanoparticles Coated with Ag-Nanoparticle-Embedded Metal-Organic Framework MIL-100(Fe) for the Catalytic Reduction of 4-Nitrophenol

A facile and efficient strategy is proposed to prepare Ag-nanoparticle-embedded magnetic metal-organic frameworks [MOFs; Fe3O4@MIL-100(Fe)/Ag]. The as-prepared nanocomposites are regular spherical and contain a Fe3O4 core with an average diameter of 400 nm, which make them exhibit good magnetic properties and can be conveniently separated. A 50 nm MIL-100(Fe) MOF shell is uniformly coated on the Fe3O4 core and loads well-dispersed 2.0 +/- 0.8 nm Ag nanoparticles in their pores, which make the nanocomposites have excellent catalytic and recyclable performances for catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol. This production strategy is highly efficient and can be used to fabricate other similar porous nanocomposites.