Mussel-inspired Ag/poly(norepinephrine)/MnO2 heterogeneous nanocatalyst for efficient reduction of 4-nitrophenol and 4-nitroaniline: an alternative approach

Abstract

Abstract: Noble metal-based surface chemistry is a well-practiced domain on interest in catalysis. A newborn in mussel-inspired coating based on catecholic chemistry, poly(norepinephrine) (PNE), has been synthesized via cyclization polymerization technique over MnO2 nanosheets. The physisorped PNE macromolecular chains over MnO2 nanosheets act as green reducing agent for silver ions resulting in arresting the quasi-spherical silver nanoparticles distributed over the MnO2-PNE assembly. The catalytic activity was performed against nitroaryl molecules which evidenced fast reduction with pseudo-first-order kinetics. The superiority which lies in this work is their facile preparation, high surface area due to sheet-like morphology, and fast catalytic reduction. These practical observations spread its window as nanocatalyst toward environmental remediation of hazardous nitroaryl compounds. Graphic abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].