Abstract
M.Sc. (Chemistry)
The compound 4-nitrophenol found in wastewater streams is mainly the result of industrial and agricultural production. Having adverse health effects associated with it, 4-nitrophenol should be removed from the environment or converted to less hazardous forms as efficiently as possible. Feasible techniques to get rid of this chemical compound are of great research interest. The synthesized nanoparticles encapsulated inside dendrimers (DENs) will be evaluated for catalytic activity against the reaction of 4-nitrophenol reduction. Transition metal nanoparticles find their application in catalysis; this makes them to be of great technological importance. They can be synthesized by evaporation, condensation and chemical or electrochemical reduction of metal salts in the presence of stabilizers.
Dendrimers were used as templates for the synthesis of both monometallic and bimetallic nanoparticles which were evaluated as catalysts for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol. We also focused on comprehensive kinetic analysis of 4-nitrophenol reduction using dendrimer encapsulated metal nanoparticles (DENs). The adsorption rates and reaction rates were found and evaluated, and it could be concluded that bimetallic catalysts were more catalytically active than monometallic ones.
Different ratios of bimetallic (AuPd) nanoparticles were also supported on different mesoporous metal oxides (MMOs) and their catalytic activity evaluated on reduction of 4-nitrophenol. The results were interpreted in the light of Langmuir Hinshelwood model. The AuPd bimetallic nanoparticles supported on MMOs showed synergistic effect. With the use of power rate law it was shown that 4-nitrophenol reduction follows first order kinetics.