Ag nanoparticles stabilized on cubic polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane cross-linked poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide-co-itaconic acid): An efficient catalyst for 4-nitrophenol reduction

Abstract

Ag nanoparticles were synthesized and stabilized on a polymeric support, poly([Formula: see text]-isopropyl acrylamide-co-itaconic acid)/POSS, by simply reducing Ag[Formula: see text] ions adsorbed in the interior of the polymeric network. The prepared Ag@p(NIPAM-IA)/POSS was used as an efficient and recyclable catalyst for removal of the 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) contaminant by NaBH4-induced reduction to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) in aqueous solution. Different conditions including Ag content and amount of the nanocomposite, and also temperature of the 4-NP reduction were investigated. Also, two kinetic models, zero-order and first-order kinetics, were studied for the reduction of 4-NP to 4-AP.