Nanoceria Supported Copper Salophen Nanomaterial (Cu(II)Salophen@APTES/CeO2) for Catalytic Reduction of Organic Dye

Abstract

In this work, preparation of a heterojunction nano catalyst has been reported by the fabrication of Cu(II) Salophen complex to nano ceria (CeO₂) through a silica linkage 3-Aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTES), which is easily separable by centrifugation. The nanocatalyst was characterized by FTIR, XRD, HRTEM, and EDX analysis. The catalytic activity of the synthesized catalyst was examined for the reduction of organic dyes methyl orange and methyl red in aqueous medium at room temperature. The dye solutions became colorless within a very short period of time in presence of synthesized catalyst and NaBH₄ as a source of hydride ions. The reduction process for both the dyes followed pseudo first-order reaction kinetics with a high catalytic efficiency.