Sugar-based micro/mesoporous hypercross-linked polymers with in situ embedded silver nanoparticles for catalytic reduction

Porous hypercross-linked polymers based on perbenzylated monosugars (SugPOP-1-3) have been synthesized by Friedel-Crafts reaction using formaldehyde dimethyl acetal as an external cross-linker. Three perbenzylated monosugars with similar chemical structure were used as monomers in order to tune the porosity. These obtained polymers exhibit microporous and mesoporous features. The highest Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface area for the resulting polymers was found to be 1220 m² g^-1, and the related carbon dioxide storage capacity was found to be 14.4 wt % at 1.0 bar and 273 K. As the prepared porous polymer SugPOP-1 is based on hemiacetal glucose, Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) can be successfully incorporated into the polymer by an in situ chemical reduction of freshly prepared Tollens' reagent. The obtained AgNPs/SugPOP-1 composite demonstrates good catalytic activity in the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) with an activity factor k_a = 51.4 s^-1 g^-1, which is higher than some reported AgNP-containing composite materials.