Preparation of gold nanoparticles supported on magnetic carboxymethyl lignin composite as a novel catalyst in the reduction of aromatic nitro compounds

This article represents the synthesis and characterizations of a Au NPs immobilized and carboxymethyl lignin (CML) modified Fe۳O۴ nanoparticles (Fe۳O۴@CML/Au NPs) following a bio-inspired protocol without the participation of any toxic and harmful reducing or stabilizing agents. The morphology and structural features were assessed following different physicochemical methodologies like Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES).The Fe۳O۴@CML/Au NPs nanocomposite was successfully employed in the efficient reduction of different nitroarenes in aqueous medium. An excellent yield were achieved within very short reaction time. The nanocatalyst was easily magnetically recovered and recycled nine times without any significant loss of catalytic activity.