2018-04-14

Nanosizednickel decorated sisal fibers with tailored aggregation structures forcatalysis reduction of toxic aromatic compounds

Abstract: Integration of highly-active nanoscale metal-based components into uniqueskeleton materials to enhance their intrinsic properties is significant for thecost-efficient application of catalyst. Here, two sisal fiber templates withdifferent structure were chemically obtained and employed as the supporters toimmobilize nickel nanoparticles by electroless deposition method in nickelbath. The coating of nickel nanoparticles (NPs) inherited preferably themicromorphology of fiber with lumen and surface micro convex structure.Compared to sisal fiber bundle (SFB), elementary sisal fibers (ESFs) afford asuperior deposited substrate for Ni NPs, which exhibit highest catalytic rateconstant 16.14 × 10−3 s−1and turnover frequency 1.82 × 10⁻³mol mol⁻¹ s⁻¹ at20°Cand molar ratio of NaBH4: p-NP (100) for reduction of p-NP with only 3.39 wt.%Ni. The outstanding performance of Ni/ESFs obtained here can be assigned to thehigh content of metallic nickel in nanoparticles, the flexible fiber based 3Dnetwork and the synergistic effect of Ni NPs and ESFs. Ni/ESF catalysts werealso successfully applied for the catalytic hydrogenation of methyl orange (MO)and Rhodamine B (RhB). Moreover, present catalyst further exhibited excellentreusability derived from their stable physic-chemical structure andmagnetically separable feature in the catalytic reaction. As a result,supported by the widely-available sisal fiber templates with tailoredstructures, present catalysts show the certain superiority in cost-effectivehy drogenation of refractory aromatic pollutants compared to the catalystsreported in the literatures.

LiuKe, et al. Nanosized nickel decorated sisal fibers with tailored aggregationstructures for catalysis reduction of toxic aromatic compounds. IndustrialCrops and Products, 2018, 119, 226-236.