Water-dispersible Fe3O4 nanowires as efficient supports for noble-metal catalysed aqueous reactions

Abstract

Water-dispersible magnetic Fe₃O₄ nanowires were synthesized at room temperature by the coprecipitation method using bio-inspired dopamine as a shape-directing surfactant. The as-synthesized nanowires were used to load a noble metal (Pd or Pt) for the preparation of magnetic nanocatalysts. The Fe₃O₄-nanowire supported noble metal exhibits bi-functional properties with stable water dispersion and excellent catalytic activity toward the hydrogenation of 4-nitrophenol and reduction of 4-nitrophenol by NaBH₄ in water. In addition, the magnetic heterostructured nanocatalysts show good separation ability and reusability for at least 5 successive cycles. Moreover, Pd/Fe₃O₄ nanowires can also act as an efficient catalyst for the Suzuki reaction under aqueous conditions.