Chitosan-supported palladium catalyst. IV. Influence of temperature on nitrophenol degradation and thermodynamic parameters

Garlic Cellulosic Powders with Immobilized AgO and CuO Nanoparticles: Preparation, Characterization of the Nanocomposites, and Application to the Catalytic Degradation of Azo Dyes

Nanomaterials have attracted specific consideration due to their specific characteristics and uses in several promising fields. In the present study, Chondrilla juncea was employed as a biological extract to facilitate the reduction of copper and silver ions within garlic peel powders. The resulting garlic-CuO and garlic-AgO nanocomposites were characterized using several analytical methods including FTIR, TGA/DTG, SEM, TEM, and XRD analyses. The garlic peel exhibited a rough surface. The nanoparticles were evenly dispersed across its surface. The incorporation of CuO and AgO nanoparticles affected the crystal structure of garlic peel. The establishment of CuO and AgO nanoparticles was evidenced by the highest residual mass values observed for the prepared nanocomposites. The thermogravimetric analysis showed that the prepared nanocomposites had lower thermal stability compared with garlic peel powders. The prepared nanocomposites were used for catalytic degradation of naphthol blue black B and calmagite. The decolorization process depended on the quantity of H2O2, initial concentration of azo dyes, duration of contact, and temperature of the bath. The calculated activation energy (Ea) values for the garlic-CuO nanocomposites were found to be 18.44 kJ mol-1 and 23.28 kJ mol-1 for calmagite and naphthol solutions, respectively. However, those calculated for garlic-AgO nanocomposites were found to be 50.01 kJ mol-1 and 12.44 kJ mol-1 for calmagite and naphthol, respectively.

Immobilization of copper oxide nanoparticles onto chitosan biopolymer: Application to the oxidative degradation of Naphthol blue black

In this study, copper oxide nanoparticles, prepared using pistacia vera hull extract, were immobilized onto chitosan. FT-IR spectrum of copper oxide-chitosan exhibited chemical shifting of the main peaks of the biopolymer indicating that hydroxyl and amino groups were reacted with copper oxide nanoparticles. SEM features showed spherical surface and physical stability of the composite. The shifting of the burning temperature in DTA from 278.5 °C to 212.6 °C in the composite proved the interaction between chitosan and copper oxide nanoparticles. The composite was applied for the oxidative degradation of naphthol blue black in the presence of H₂O₂. The change of copper oxide nanoparticles loading, time, dye concentration, temperature, and oxidant dose were studied. The degradation yield reached 86 % (C₀ = 30 mg/L, T=20 °C, H₂O₂ = 8 mL/L). The activation energy (E_a), entropy (ΔS*) and enthalpy (ΔH*) were equal to 45.558 KJ. mol^-1, -116.203 J mol^-1 K^-1 and 42.986 kJ mol^-1, respectively.

Metal-dependent nano-catalysis in reduction of aromatic pollutants

Nanostructures have great potential in catalysis and their compositions may cause some interferences in the reactivity. Therefore, the present study focuses on comparison between three metallic nanoparticle-based Ag, Au, and Pd as nano-catalyst in reduction of aromatic pollutants. To neglect any interpenetration in their catalytic reactivity, the metallic nanoparticles were prepared via a consistent and reproducible one-step method with alkali-activated dextran. Interestingly, small sized/spherical AgNPs, AuNPs, and PdNPs were successively prepared with particle size of 3.4, 8.3, and 17.1 nm, respectively. The catalytic performance of the synthesized NPs was estimated for the reduction of p-nitroaniline and methyl red dye as different aromatic pollutants. Regardless of the particle size, there was a strong relation between catalytic action and the type of metal which followed the order of PdNP > AuNPs > AgNPs. Graphical Abstract.

Simple, readily controllable palladium nanoparticle formation on surface-assembled viral nanotemplates

Transition-metal nanoparticles possess unique size-dependent optical, electronic, and catalytic properties on the nanoscale, which differ significantly from their bulk properties. In particular, palladium (Pd) nanoparticles have properties applicable to a wide range of applications in catalysis and electronics. However, predictable and controllable nanoparticle synthesis remains challenging because of harsh reaction conditions, artifacts from capping agents, and unpredictable growth. Biological supramolecules offer attractive templates for nanoparticle synthesis because of their precise structure and size. In this article, we demonstrate simple, controllable Pd nanoparticle synthesis on surface-assembled viral nanotemplates. Specifically, we exploit precisely spaced thiol functionalities of genetically modified tobacco mosaic virus (TMV1cys) for facile surface assembly and readily controllable Pd nanoparticle synthesis via simple electroless deposition under mild aqueous conditions. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies clearly show tunable surface assembly and Pd nanoparticle formation preferentially on the TMV1cys templates. Grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) further provided an accurate and statistically meaningful route by which to investigate the broad size ranges and uniformity of the Pd nanoparticles formed on TMV templates by simply tuning the reducer concentration. We believe that our viral-templated bottom-up approach to tunable Pd nanoparticle formation combined with the first in-depth characterization via GISAXS represents a major advancement toward exploiting viral templates for facile nanomaterials/device fabrication. We envision that our strategy can be extended to a wide range of applications, including uniform nanostructure and nanocatalyst synthesis.