Facile synthesis of highly catalytic activity Ni–Co–Pd–P composite for reduction of the p-Nitrophenol

• Urchin-like Ni–Co–P composites were synthesized with a facile hydrothermal method.
• Pd nanoparticles were loaded in the urchin-like Ni–Co–P composites.
• The composites can catalyze the reduction of p-Nitrophenol by NaBH4 quickly.
• The prepared Ni–Co–Pd–P composites have strong magnetism for sample separation.

A simple hydrothermal method was developed for the one-step synthesis of an urchin-like Ni@Ni3P@CoP2@P composite. p-Nitrophenol can be completely reduced to p-Aminophenol using the as-synthesized composites as catalysts, and the reaction was monitored by UV–vis spectroscopy. Further research implied that the presence of Co greatly improves the catalytic ability of the composites for the reduction of p-Nitrophenol . Palladium (Pd) nanoparticles (NPs) were subsequently loaded into the Ni–Co–P composites to obtain better catalytic effects. Aside from excellent catalytic ability for reducing p-Nitrophenol, the strong magnetism of the as-prepared Ni–Co–Pd–P composites allowed the facile collection of the catalysts from the reaction system. After using the as-synthesized Ni–Co–Pd–P compounds seven times every 15 min, recyclability was estimated by monitoring the formation of p-Aminophenol using the catalysts via UV–vis spectroscopy. The as-synthesized Ni–Co–Pd–P composites presented good catalytic ability and excellent recyclability for the reduction of p-Nitrophenol .

The urchin-like Ni–Co–Pd–P composite with stronger magnetism has been synthesized by a facile method, which can catalyze the reduction of the p-Nitrophenol into p-Aminophenol completely in 50 s with easy magnetic recovery, making it very promising for applications such as high-effectively catalyst (see Figure).Figure optionsDownload high-quality image (245 K)Download as PowerPoint slide