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Designed Meso‐macroporous Silica Framework Impregnated with Copper Oxide Nanoparticles for Enhanced Catalytic Performance
Author(s) -
Kanwar Rohini,
Bhar Rekha,
Mehta Surinder Kumar
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
chemcatchem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.497
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1867-3899
pISSN - 1867-3880
DOI - 10.1002/cctc.201701630
Subject(s) - catalysis , materials science , mesoporous material , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , chemical engineering , nanoparticle , mesoporous silica , oxide , small angle x ray scattering , inorganic chemistry , nanotechnology , chemistry , organic chemistry , scattering , physics , optics , engineering , metallurgy
The template efficacy of solid lipid nanoparticles for generating porous silica materials with the amalgamation of Cu‐functionalized cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC; as a co‐emulsifier and as a metal source for generation of CuO oxide nanoparticles) has been explored. Impregnation of CuO nanoparticles (∼10–12 nm) onto the silica matrix proffers to be a propitious route for the fabrication of twin sized porous, highly active catalytic materials. The surface morphology and structural characterization of the synthesized CuO@meso‐macroporous silica framework was elucidated by TEM, field ‐emission (FE)‐SEM, energy‐dispersive X‐ray (EDX), wavelength dispersive (WD)‐XRF, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS), XRD, and N 2 adsorption/desorption studies. All the results have shown that there exists a structural network interconnecting the mesopores with macropores. The catalytic performance of the synthesized framework (ascribed catalyst) was checked for two model reactions. For the reduction of p ‐nitrophenol to p ‐aminophenol, only 0.25 % (w/v) catalyst was sufficient to accomplish the reaction in 6 min, giving 99.9 % yield. On the other hand, the redox reaction of potassium hexacyanoferrate(III) and sodium thiosulfate utilized 5 % (w/v) catalyst and completed the reaction in 40 min, yielding 98.43 %. Therefore, CuO@meso‐macroporous silica materials could hold great importance in the world of nanocatalysis owing to the present promising results.