title: Cellulose nanocrystal/hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide/silver nanoparticle composite as a catalyst for reduction of 4-nitrophenol.
abstract: The application of metal nanoparticles (NPs) in catalysis has drawn significant research interest, including in their applications to the wastewater treatment. Nanocellulose can be a versatile support/carrier in stabilizing metal NPs catalysts, due to its unique properties. In this paper, hexadecyl-trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactant-adsorbed cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) was employed as a support for silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs). The obtained CNC/CTAB/Ag nanohybrid composite was characterized by ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The results of the catalytic reaction experiments showed that Ag NPs immobilized on CTAB-adsorbed CNC displayed higher catalytic efficiency towards the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol, compared to the control Ag NPs and CNC/Ag samples. The enhanced catalytic performance of Ag NPs was attributed to the improved dispersity and narrow distribution of silver nanoparticles in the catalytic system. This work provides a novel catalyst based on CNC-CTAB stabilized Ag NPs which would have promising applications towards catalytic treatment of wastewater.
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China; Department of Chemical Engineering, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, E3B 5A3, Canada.
authors.forename: Xingye
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, E3B 5A3, Canada. Electronic address: yunduo.long@unb.ca.
authors.forename: Yunduo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Long
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China; Department of Chemical Engineering, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, E3B 5A3, Canada. Electronic address: yonghao@unb.ca.
authors.forename: Yonghao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ni
mesh_terms: D002384:Catalysis; D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry*; D000077286:Cetrimonium; D002593:Cetrimonium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D009596:Nitrophenols / Q000737:chemistry*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002593:Cetrimonium Compounds; D009596:Nitrophenols; D012834:Silver; D002482:Cellulose; C024836:4-nitrophenol; D000077286:Cetrimonium
keywords: 4-Nitrophenol (4-NP); Cellulose nano-crystals (CNC); Hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB); Nanocatalyst; Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs); Support/carrier