Title: Catalytic activity and stability of silver supported on multiwalled carbon nanotubes

Authors: Vijay R. Chaudhari; Kanchan M. Samant; Pravin P. Ingole; P.A. Hassan; Santosh K. Haram

Addresses: Department of Chemistry, University of Pune, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411007, India. ' Department of Chemistry, University of Pune, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411007, India. ' Department of Chemistry, University of Pune, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411007, India. ' Chemistry Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, India. ' Department of Chemistry, University of Pune, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411007, India

Abstract: Catalytic activity and stability of silver supported on functionalised multiwalled carbon nanotubes (Ag-f-MWCNTs) is investigated. NaBH₄ reduction of organic dyes, viz. rhodamine 6G (R6G) and orange G (OG) was used as model reaction. Rate of reduction of dyes was found to be greatly enhanced in presence of Ag-f-MWCNTs, and proportional to the amount of Ag-f-MWCNTs used, which indicates the high catalytic activity of silver associated with MWCNTs. Stability of the composite was tested by its repeated use, and found to remain almost similar in terms of activity and physical existence. The exceptional stability of silver is attributed to the MWCNTs as a rigid support.

Keywords: Ag-f-MWCNTs; composite; catalyst; CNT support; rhodamine 6G; orange G; kinetics; multiwalled carbon nanotubes; MWCNTs; silver; catalytic activity; stability; nanotechnology; organic dyes.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNT.2011.044442

International Journal of Nanotechnology, 2011 Vol.8 No.10/11/12, pp.988 - 997

Published online: 24 Dec 2011 *

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