Biomass-derived alkaloids for sustainable synthesis of d-block metal nanocatalysts

Abstract

The leading aim of this research paper was to discover the reduction properties of nicotine extracts for metal nanoparticles synthesis. The scope of the work was to extract nicotine from dried tobacco leaves, purify the extracts, synthesize different metals’ nanoparticles, estimate their properties, and conduct catalytic hydrogenation of nitroaromatic compounds with these nanoparticles. For nicotine extraction from dried tobacco leaves, three different solvents were used: water, methanol, and ethanol, to determine the most effective one. Next, the leftover solvent was evaporated, and the crude was dissolved in HCl. After evaporation, a few steps of purification were applied, like re-extraction with chloroform and filtration with a syringe filter. Finally, all extracts were resuspended in water. In the second stage, the extracts served as reductants and stabilizers for the synthesis of metal nanoparticles. A portion of the extract was mixed with the metal precursor solution. Firstly, a set of gold nanoparticles was synthesized using different extracts to determine the best one, which will be further used to synthesize the rest catalysts. Based on this extract, the rest metal nanoparticles were synthesized, including six more metals (W, Ir, Re, Pt, Pd, Os). Another set of catalysts was prepared with the amendment of the plasma reactor. For all the catalysts, the assessment of the catalytic activity of 4-nitrophenol hydrogenation was conducted. Among them, the three most efficient catalysts were used in the hydrogenation of nitroaromatic compounds mixture. Finally, the properties of the catalysts were examined during XRD, HRTEM, DLS, and Zeta Potential assessments.