rGO supported Co-Ni bimetallic magnetically separable nanocatalysts for the reduction of 4-Nitrophenol

•Eco-friendly route is demonstrated to synthesize Co-Ni bimetallic decorated rGO.•The composite shows enhanced efficiency in catalytic activity and stability for reduction of 4-NP.•The synergistic effect of Co-and Ni enhances the catalytic activity.•Catalyst could be easily recycled and reused.

The Cobalt-Nickel-reduced graphene oxide ternary composite was prepared using eco-friendly, solvent-free and low temperature CVD method where in metal formates were used as metal precursor. The structure, composition and morphology of synthesized samples were characterized by several related techniques like X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The catalytic efficiency towards reduction of an organic pollutant such as 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) was explored and the reaction parameters like temperature, weight ratio of the composite was optimised and rate constant of the reactions were measured. The results show 8% Co-Ni-rGO are having high catalytic efficiency and can complete the reduction reaction within 250 s at 45 °C. Furthermore, catalyst being magnetically separable shows high stability after ten successive reactions. Hence, the Co-Ni-rGO composite can be a potential promising material to catalyse the reduction of 4-NP.

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