Abstract
Herein we report the fabrication and characterization of Pd decorated Fe3O4 nanoparticles as highly effective catalysts for hydrogenation of 4-nitroaniline and 1,3-dinitrobenzene in liquid phase. The fabricated Fe3O4 nanoparticles exhibit an average size of 12 nm and super paramagnetic character with a high saturation magnetization (80 emu/g). The surface -NH2 groups effectively binds the in situ formed Pd nanoparticles. Thus formed Fe3O4-APTES-Pd(0) catalyst showed a very high catalytic activity in reduction reactions of 4-nitroaniline and 1,3-dinitrobenzene in liquid phase. Electron donor -NH2 groups supported Pd may be responsible for the increased catalytic activity. The superparamagnetic character of this system allows easy recovery and multiple uses without significant loss of its catalytic activity.