Abstract:
Recently research on heterogeneous catalyst derived from metal organic frameworks has
become the subject of immense interest due to their significant bifunctional, physical,
chemical and magnetic properties as compared to original MOFs. This work represents the
engineering of nanostructures using one-step annealing method. The Fe-MOF precursor was
formed by the association of FeCl3.6H2O and 1,4-dicarboxylic acid through using simple
solvothermal method. The annealing of MOF at different temperatures (400oC, 600oC, 800oC)
under inert atmosphere precisely synthesized three catalysts Fe/C-400, Fe/C600, Fe/C800
respectively with large surface area, morphology and tunable porosity. Nanometer size iron,
iron oxide nanoparticles formed and uniformly dispersed over the graphitic carbon. The
prepared nanostructures were characterized by various analytical techniques including FTIR,
XRD, TGA, SEM, TEM, EDS and XPS. XPS and TEM results confirmed the formation of
zero valent iron at 800oC that exhibit nano-ropes like morphology with average diameter of
about 10nm. These catalysts were tested for the selective reduction of 4-Nitrophenol. The
results of catalytic reduction showed that the Fe/C-800 catalyst exhibit excellent catalytic
activity with the apparent rate constant value 0.0149s-1 at 0.4mg Nanoparticle loading. This
non-noble metal catalyst showed better or comparable catalytic activity than many reported
precious metal catalyst. Loading of catalyst and annealing temperature significantly affect the
catalytic activity. This study will pave the way for the application in heterogeneous catalysis
of diversity of substrates and use of these materials on large scale.
