Abstract
In the present study, an ionic liquid (IL) based on 1-butyl-3- (trimethoxysilylpropyl) -imidazolium tetrafluoroborate (IL) was prepared using metathesis and anion exchange reactions and used to stabilize silver (AgNPs) nanoparticles. The IL-stabilized silver nanoparticles AgNPs@[BMSI]BF4 were produced in an aqueous solution with NaBH4 as a reducing agent. TGA, FTIR, XRD, BET, FSEM, TEM/HRTEM, XPS, and UV-Vis spectra were used to analyze AgNPs@[BMSI]BF4 and were used for the catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4aminophenol (4-AP) in the presence of NaBH4. AgNPs@[BMSI]BF4 showed excellent catalytic properties for the reduction of 4-NP to 4-AP and showed 100% conversion of 4-NP to 4-AP within 6 min and the rate constant (k) was found to be 8.33 x 10-3 s-1. The reusability results indicated that 97.8% of 4-NP was converted to 4-AP with highly stable rate constants over six consecutive cycles. The activity factor (AF) and the turn-over frequency (TOF) at room temperature were 3.33 s-1 gm- 1 and 0.166 s- 1, respectively. This study extends a new approach to the production of stable catalysts for the growing needs in wastewater treatment.