Polyelectrolyte induced formation of silver nanoparticles in copolymer hydrogel and their application as catalyst

• A simple route for the in situ preparation of Ag nanoparticles has been developed.
• The Ag loaded hydrogel showed catalytic activity for reduction of 4-nitrophenol.
• The catalyst can be recovered by simple separation and showed good recyclability.

A simple route for the in situ preparation of catalytically active Ag nanoparticles (NPs) in hydrogel networks has been developed. The electronegativity of the amide and carboxyl groups on the poly(acrylamide-co-acryl acid) chains caused strong binding of the Ag+ ions which made the ions distribute uniformly inside the hydrogels. When the Ag+ loaded hydrogels were immersed in NaBH4 solution, the Ag+ ions on the polymer networks were reduced to Ag NPs. The resultant hydrogel showed good catalytic activity for the reduction of a common organic pollutant, 4-nitrophenol, with sodium borohydride. A kinetic study of the catalytic reaction was carried out and a possible reason for the decline of the catalytic performance with reuse is proposed.

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