Nanostructured β-CoMoO₄ catalysts have been prepared via the thermal decomposition of an oxalate precursor. The catalyst was characterized by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method (BET), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The efficiency of these nanoparticles in the reduction of ortho- and meta-nitrophenol isomers (2-NP, 3-NP, and 4-NP) to their corresponding aminophenols was tested using UV-visible spectroscopy measurements. It was found that, with a β-CoMoO₄ catalyst, NaBH₄ reduces 3-NP instantaneously, whilst the reduction of 2-NP and 4-NP is slower at 8 min. This difference is thought to arise from the lower acidity of 3-NP, where the negative charge of the phenolate could not be delocalized onto the oxygen atoms of the meta-nitro group.
Keywords: nanoparticles; nanostructures; nitrophenol reduction; β-CoMoO4.