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Metal nanoparticles (MNPs)-decorated reduced graphene oxide nanosheets as efficient catalysts for hydrogenolysis of benzyl alcohol

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Abstract

Here in this article, we report an eco-friendly approach for in situ synthesis of MNPs implanted on reduced graphene oxide (MNPs@rGO) [where MNPs = Metal nanoparticles such as vanadium oxide (VO), Nickel (Ni) and Copper (Cu)] nanocatalysts. These composite materials were well corroborated through diverse physicochemical techniques. Noticeably, MNPs@rGO promoted hydrogenolysis of benzyl alcohol (BzA) with triethylsilane (Et3SiH) as a reductant bestowing exceptional activity to provide synthetically valuable hydrocarbon product i.e. toluene. The impact of discrete experimental variables like mole ratio, catalyst amount, reaction time and solvents have also been examined. Under the optimized conditions, CuNPs@rGO exclusively promoted the preceding reaction leading to 81.2% conversion of BzA with 99.9% toluene selectivity. Additionally, it could be recycled and reused without consequential loss of activity in the fifth cycle tests.

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Acknowledgements

We express our gratitude to the Head, Applied Chemistry Department, Faculty of Technology and Engineering, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat, India for providing the necessary laboratory facilities. Authors are thankful to the DST-PURSE program for providing Raman measurements. The authors would like to present his deep thanks and gratitude to Dr. R. J. Choudhary, UGC-DAE Consortium for Scientific Research, Indore, MP, India. Analytical facilities provided by the SAIF, IIT, Mumbai, India and the University Sophisticated Instruments Facility (USIF), AMU, Aligarh, UP, India is gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. Applied Chemistry Department, Faculty of Technology and Engineering, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat, 390 001, India

    Dikin Patel, Ravi S. Vithalani & Chetan K. Modi

  2. Chemical Engineering Department, Faculty of Technology and Engineering, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat, 390 001, India

    Nitin V. Bhate

  3. Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat, 390 002, India

    Prafulla K. Jha

  4. Indus Synchrotrons Utilisation Section, Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore, 452013, India

    Sanjeev R. Kane

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  1. Dikin Patel
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Patel, D., Vithalani, R.S., Modi, C.K. et al. Metal nanoparticles (MNPs)-decorated reduced graphene oxide nanosheets as efficient catalysts for hydrogenolysis of benzyl alcohol. Graphene and 2D Materials Technol 6, 13–24 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41127-021-00041-9

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