Copper(I) Oxide Supported on α-Zirconium Phosphate as a Stable and Recyclable Catalyst for Selective Reduction of 4-Nitrophenol
摘要
In a certain effort to use first-row transition metal catalysts instead of noble metals (like Pd, Pt, Au and Ag), copper-based systems have emerged as versatile catalysts for reduction reactions. Copper(I) oxide has been less exploited due to a low control in its synthesis; in this context, copper(I) oxide nanoparticles supported on α-zirconium phosphate (Cu2O/α-ZrP) were introduced as a stable and recyclable catalyst for the selective reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) toward 4-aminophenol (4-AP) in water at room temperature, obeying the pseudo first-order kinetic model with a rate constant of 0.091 min−1. The thermodynamic study shed light on the rate-limiting step rather than the diffusion-limited mechanism with an activation energy of 68.25 kJ mol−1. The catalytic system’s structure was persevered after 3 cycles and the copper leaching was absent, setting a promising precedent for the development of α-ZrP-supported metal nanoparticle catalysts.