Copper Nanoparticles Deposited Cellulose Acetate Microfibers as Heterogenous Catalysts for 4-Nitrophenol Reduction in Aqueous Media

摘要

In this work, copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) loaded cellulose acetate microfibers (CAMFs-Cu) are successfully prepared as a novel heterogenous catalyst. For this purpose, the cellulose acetate microfibers (CAMFs) with a diameter of ca. 300-500 nm are fabricated by electrospinning method. Then, CuNPs are deposited onto the CAMFs via a convenient wet reduction process using copper chloride as precursor and sodium borohydride as reduction agent. The chemical composition of the fabricated CAMFs-Cu is characterized by energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images reveal that the CuNPs with a diameter of approximately 20 nm are homogenously deposited on the CAMFs. The distribution density for the CuNPs increases with precursor concentrations. The catalytic performance shows that the CAMFs-Cu lead to approximate 100% reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) and the reaction constant increases with deposited Cu content. The CAMFs-Cu heterogenous catalysts are very stable and could be reused up to eight times in consecutive runs without any treatment between the cycles. The CAMFs-Cu is thus expected to have great potential as a highly efficient, cost-effective and eco-friendly reusable catalyst for catalytic applications.