Well dispersive Ni nanoparticles embedded in core-shell supports as efficient catalysts for 4-nitrophenol reduction

In this report, we have prepared a magnetic catalyst with well-dispersed Ni nanoparticles embedded in SiO2@C core-shell materials. A resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) resin layer containing Ni source was in situ grown on the SiO2 spheres through polymerization process. The Ni species and RF layer in the precursor simultaneously were transformed into Ni nanoparticles and carbon layer through the heat treatment. The loading mass and size of Ni nanoparticles can be adjusted by changing the additional amount of Ni source, which can provide efficient active sites and control the catalytic reduction of 4-NP. As-prepared SCN-3 with the higher density dispersion revealed better catalytic activity than other catalysts in terms of shorter induction time (70 s) and higher mass-normalized rate constant (261.44 s−1 mg−1). Moreover, SiO2@C/Ni nanocomposite provided an excellent catalytic efficiency with no obvious deactivation (~ 100%) over the 5 cycles.