Synthesis of M/CuO (MÂ =Â Ag, Au) from Cu based Metal Organic Frameworks for efficient catalytic reduction of p-nitrophenol

•A facile method to synthesis M/CuO (M = Ag, Au) catalysts from Cu-MOFs was suggested.•Any additional reductant agent was not used in this method.•Superior performances of M/CuO were attributed to synergistic effect of metals and CuO.•Reduction of p-NP was considered to follow a pseudo-first-order kinetic.

Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) have received enormous attention in catalysis field due to their special structures and various promising applications. One of the intriguing applications of MOFs is utilization of them as precursors for synthesis of metal oxide nanomaterials. Base on this strategy, in this work, we have applied Cu-MOF to prepare a series of noble metal nanoparticles (Ag and Au) decorated CuO (M/CuO) as efficient catalyst. As-prepared nanocomposites were characterized by various analytical techniques and their catalytic performances appraised by using of the catalytic reduction of p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol as a reliable model reaction. Experimental results suggest that synergistic effects between Ag, Au and CuO, and high surface area of CuO as appropriate support for nanoparticles elevate catalytic performance of M/CuO materials.

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