Silver oxide doped iron oxide/alginate nanocomposite coated cotton cloth for selective catalytic reduction of potassium ferricyanide.

Silver oxide doped iron oxide (Ag2 O-Fe2 O3 ) nanocatalyst was prepared and coated on cotton cloth (CC) and additionally enveloped in sodium alginate (Alg) hydrogel. Ag2 O-Fe2 O3 coated CC (Ag2 O-Fe2 O3 /CC) and Ag2 O-Fe2 O3 wrapped Alg (Ag2 O-Fe2 O3 /Alg) were considered as catalysts regarding reduction reaction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), congo red (CR), methylene blue (MB) and potassium ferricyanide (K3 [Fe(CN)6 ]). Ag2 O-Fe2 O3 /CC and Ag2 O-Fe2 O3 /Alg were found to be effective and selective catalyst for reaction of K3 [Fe(CN)6 ]. Further amount of catalyst, K3 [Fe(CN)6 ] quantity, amount of NaBH4 , stability of catalyst and recyclability were optimized for the reaction of K3 [Fe(CN)6 ]. Ag2 O-Fe2 O3 /Alg and Ag2 O-Fe2 O3 /CC were appeared to be the stable catalysts by maintaining high activity during recyclability tests showing highest reaction rate constants (kapp ) of 0.3472 and 0.5629 min-1 , correspondingly. However, Ag2 O-Fe2 O3 /CC can be easily recovered as compared to Ag2 O-Fe2 O3 /Alg by simply removing from the reaction which is the main advantage of Ag2 O-Fe2 O3 /CC. Moreover, Ag2 O-Fe2 O3 /Alg and Ag2 O-Fe2 O3 /CC were also examined in real samples and found useful for K3 [Fe(CN)6 ] reaction involving real samples. The nanocatalyst gives a new cost and time saving material and route for economical reduction of K3 [Fe(CN)6 ] for environmental safety.