Highly efficient reusable Pd nanoparticles based on eggshell: Green synthesis, characterization and their application in catalytic reduction of variety of organic dyes and ligand-free oxidative hydroxylation of phenylboronic acid at room temperature

This work reports the use of eggshell as economic and environmentally friendly support for preparation of the supported Pd nanoparticles (Pd NPs) through the green and simple in situ reduction method using barberry fruit extract as a reducing and stabilizing agent. The catalytic activity of the as-prepared catalyst was observed in the ligand-free hydroxylation of phenylboronic acid to phenol and reduction of various organic dyes, such as 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), Methyl orange (MO), Congo red (CR) and Methylene blue (MB) in the presence of NaBH4 in water at room temperature. The synthesized nanocomposite was characterized by XRD, SEM, EDS and TEM. Additionally, this nanocomposite can be recycled and showed good catalytic ability and excellent recyclability. (C) 2016 Elsevier Science. All rights reserved. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.