Preparation of Bimetallic Catalyst: Gold-Copper (Au-Cu) Nanoparticles for Catalytic Reduction of p-Nitrophenol

Abstract

Abstract The combination of gold (Au) and copper (Cu) nanoparticles can enhance their chemical and physical characteristics for the application in catalysis. This combination of Au and Cu reduce the cost of Au and improve the stability of Cu towards oxidation. This study involves the preparation of Au-Cu NPs for the application in the reduction of p -nitrophenol ( p -NP). The Au-Cu NPs catalyst was synthesized with different Au: Cu ratio and addition hexadecylamine (HDA). The highest rate constant ( k ) of 8.2 × 10 −3 s −1 was obtained over 1.5 Au-Cu HDA2 catalyst. UV-Vis spectrophotometer and Transmission Electron Microscope were used to characterize the prepared sample.