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Updated: Sep 27, 2025

Synthesis and Testing of Supported Pt-Cu Solid Solution Nanoparticle Catalysts for Propane Dehydrogenation
Published on: July 18, 2017
A reusable catalyst based on CuO hexapods and a CuO-Ag composite for the highly efficient reduction of nitrophenols
Nannan Zhang1, Yuxi Meng1, Yuxue Ning1
1Key Laboratory of Photochemical Biomaterials and Energy Storage Materials, Heilongjiang Province, Key Laboratory for Photonic and Electronic Bandgap Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Normal University Harbin 150025 Heilongjiang China fangchai@gmail.com.
Abstract:
The enormous and urgent need to explore cost-effective catalysts with high efficiency has always been at the forefront of environmental protection and remediation research. This work develops a novel strategy for the fabrication of reusable CuO-based non-noble metal nanomaterials as high-efficiency catalysts. We report a facile and eco-friendly synthesis of CuO hexapods and CuO-Ag composite using uric acid as a reductant and protectant. Both exhibited high catalytic activity in the hydrogenation of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) by sodium borohydride (NaBH4), with the CuO-Ag composite showing superior catalytic performance. Notably, the highest turnover frequency of CuO-Ag reached 7.97 × 10-2 s-1, which was much higher than numerous noble-metal nanomaterials. In addition, CuO hexapods and CuO-Ag composite were also shown to act as highly efficient and recyclable catalysts in the degeneration of 4-NP. Both CuO hexapods and the CuO-Ag composite exhibited outstanding catalytic durability, with no significant loss of activity over more than 10 cycles in the hydrogenation of 4-NP.
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