Catalytic activity and stability of silver supported on multiwalled carbon nanotubes

Catalytic activity and stability of silver supported on functionalised multiwalled carbon nanotubes (Ag–f–MWCNTs) is investigated. NaBH4 reduction of organic dyes, viz. rhodamine 6G (R6G) and orange G (OG) was used as model reaction. Rate of reduction of dyes was found to be greatly enhanced in presence of Ag–f–MWCNTs, and proportional to the amount of Ag–f–MWCNTs used, which indicates the high catalytic activity of silver associated with MWCNTs. Stability of the composite was tested by its repeated use, and found to remain almost similar in terms of activity and physical existence. The exceptional stability of silver is attributed to the MWCNTs as a rigid support.