Ionothermal synthesis of magnetic N-doped porous carbon to immobilize Pd nanoparticles: An efficient heterogeneous catalyst for reduction of nitroaromatic compounds

Abstract

Abstract Carbon materials play important roles as a catalyst or catalyst-support for reduction reactions owing to their high porosity, large specific surface area, great electron conductivity, and excellent chemical stability. In this paper, a mesoporous N-doped carbon substrate (exhibited as N-C) has been synthesized by ionothermal carbonization of glucose in the attendance of histidine. The N-C substrate was modified by Fe3O4 nanoparticles (N-C/Fe3O4), and then Pd nanoparticles were stabilized on the magnetic substrate to synthesize an eco-friendly Pd catalyst with high efficiency, magnetic, reusability, recoverability, and great stability. To characterize N-C/Fe3O4-Pd nanocatalyst, different microscopic and spectroscopic methods such as FT-IR, XRD, SEM/EDX, and TEM were applied. Moreover, N-C/Fe3O4-Pd showed high catalytic activity in reducing nitroaromatic compounds in water at ambient temperatures when NaBH4 was used as a reducing agent. The provided nanocatalyst's great catalytic durability and power can be ascribed to the synergetic interaction among well-dispersed Pd nanoparticles and N-doped carbonaceous support.