Preparation of well-dispersed and anti-oxidized Ni nanoparticles using polyamioloamine dendrimers as templates and their catalytic activity in the hydrogenation of p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol

• Published in: The Korean journal of chemical engineering Vol. 28; no. 3; pp. 717 - 722
• Main Authors: Ma, Zhenye, Wu, Rujun, Han, Qiaorong, Chen, Rizhi, Gu, Zhenggui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.03.2011; 한국화학공학회
• Subjects: Biotechnology; Catalysis; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Materials Science; 화학공학; Catalytic Activity; Nitrophenol; Hydrogenation; Ni Nanoparticles; PAMAM Dendrimers
• ISSN: 0256-1115; 1975-7220
• DOI: 10.1007/s11814-010-0424-z

p -Aminophenol was synthesized by catalytic hydrogenation of p -nitrophenol on Ni nanoparticles prepared by a chemical reduction method using polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers as templates. The as-prepared Ni nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, LRS, EDS, FTIR, FESEM, HRTEM and N 2 sorption analysis. Smaller-sized, better-dispersed and more active Ni nanoparticles can be successfully achieved using PAMAM dendrimers as templates. Analysis results show the as-prepared Ni nanoparticles are pure f.c.c. nickel. In hydrogenation reactions of p -nitrophenol, Ni nanoparticles show higher catalytic activity than that of Ni nanoparticles prepared in the absence of PAMAM dendrimers. The weight ratio of PAMAM/Ni 2+ is proved to be an important parameter on the catalytic activity of Ni nanoparticles and the optimal ratio is 15%. The reason proposed for higher catalytic activity of Ni nanoparticles is a combination effect of smaller particle size, better dispersion and more active Ni nanoparticles.