Sonochemical synthesis of Fe3O4@NH2-mesoporous silica@Polypyrrole/Pd: A core/double shell nanocomposite for catalytic applications

Youssef Snoussi; Stéphane Bastide; Manef Abderrabba; Mohamed M Chehimi

doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2017.10.021

Sonochemical synthesis of Fe₃O₄@NH₂-mesoporous silica@Polypyrrole/Pd: A core/double shell nanocomposite for catalytic applications

Ultrason Sonochem. 2018 Mar:41:551-561. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2017.10.021. Epub 2017 Oct 24.

Authors

Youssef Snoussi¹, Stéphane Bastide², Manef Abderrabba³, Mohamed M Chehimi⁴

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Materials, Molecules and Applications, IPEST, University of Carthage, Sidi Bou Said Road, B.P. 51 2070, La Marsa, Tunisia; Faculté des Sciences de Bizerte, Université de Carthage, Bizerte, Tunisia. Electronic address: snoussi.youssef.24@gmail.com.
² Université Paris Est, ICMPE (UMR 7182), CNRS, UPEC, 2-8 rue Henri Dunant, 94320 Thiais, France.
³ Laboratory of Materials, Molecules and Applications, IPEST, University of Carthage, Sidi Bou Said Road, B.P. 51 2070, La Marsa, Tunisia.
⁴ Université Paris Est, ICMPE (UMR 7182), CNRS, UPEC, 2-8 rue Henri Dunant, 94320 Thiais, France. Electronic address: chehimi@icmpe.cnrs.fr.

PMID: 29137786
DOI: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2017.10.021

Abstract

There is a growing interest in sonochemistry for either the controlled design of nanostructured materials or for the synthesis of polymers and polymer composites. It is fast and highly efficient method that provides materials with exceptional and enhanced structural and chemical properties. Herein, we take advantage of the versatile sonochemical process in order to design core/double layered shell nanocomposite denoted by Fe₃O₄@NH₂-mesoporous silica@ PPy/Pd. This magnetic, multicomponent material was designed in a three-step sono-process: (i) synthesis of magnetic core, (ii) cure of mesoporous silica, and (iii) sonochemical deposition of PPy/Pd. This last step was achieved within 1 h, a much shorter duration compared to conventional routes which usually take several hours to few days. The final nanocomposite can be recovered with a simple magnetic stick. X-ray diffraction patterns highlighted the presence of zerovalent palladium on the surface of the magnetic nanocomposite. The catalytic activity of the solid support was investigated by the study of the p-nitrophenol (p-NP) reduction and the Methyl Orange (MO) degradation in aqueous media. Results showed a very high catalytic efficiency, a high conversion yield of p-NP into 4-aminophenol (more than 94%) and an almost entire degradation of MO (99%) with a fast kinetics fitting to the first order model. This work demonstrates conclusively the benefits of sonochemistry in the design of metal nanoparticle-decorated inorganic/polymer hybrid system with outstanding performances.

Keywords: Catalytic applications; Core/double shell nanocomposite; Fe(3)O(4); Mesoporous silica; Palladium doped polypyrrole; Sonochemistry.