Immobilization of Gold Nanoparticles on Poly(4-Vinylpyridine)-Grafted Carbon Nanotubes as Heterogeneous Catalysts for Hydrogenation of 4-Nitrophenol

Huimin Xu^a, Yaqin Sang^a, Bin Xu^b, Li Zhang^a, Lei Zhang*^,a, and Hui Xu*^,a

^aInstitute of Advanced Synthesis, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China.

^bNanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China, Nanjing 210042, China.

Abstract

The organization of colloidal nanoparticles (NPs) on suitable supports is very significant for applications. In this work, a facile and robust method has been developed to directly attach gold nanoparticles (GNPs) on the surface of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with the aid of surface-initiated grafting polymer. Firstly, the CNTs were covalently functionalized with poly(4-vinylpyridine) (P4VP) vis surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). Subsequently, the P4VP-grafted CNTs were employed as robust templates for the immobilization of GNPs, leading to the formation of CNT-g-P4VP/GNPs hybrids in which a great deal of GNPs were uniformly and densely decorated on the surface of CNTs. The covalently grafted polymer chains on the CNT surface render the CNT-g-P4VP/GNPs hybrids favorable solubility in aqueous solution. Thus, such hybrid nanocomposites could be efficiently used as catalysts for the hydrogenation of 4-nitrophenol with long-term durability and good recyclability. This approach opens up an avenue in the design of CNT-supported heterogeneous nanocatalysts with high performance.

ACS Appl. Nano Mater. 2020, 12, 12169–12177

文章链接：https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.0c02661