Influence of the Ag Content on the Activity of Ag/CeO2 Catalysts in the Reduction of 4-Nitrophenol at Room Temperature and Atmospheric Pressure

AbstractFunctionalized aromatic amines are an important basis for the production of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, polymers, dyes, and other industrially significant products. The catalytic reduction of nitroarenes to aromatic amines is one of the methods most commonly used for the production of amines both in industry and in the laboratory. In this work, we synthesized Ag/CeO2 catalysts with different silver contents (1, 3, 5, and 10 wt %) and studied the physicochemical and catalytic properties of these systems. The effect of the amount of an active component (Ag) on the activity of the catalyst in the reduction of 4-nitrophenol with sodium borohydride in water at room temperature and atmospheric pressure was shown. As the silver content was increased to 10 wt %, the rate of reaction increased, but the absolute activity (TOF) decreased.