Hydrogenation of arenes, nitroarenes, and alkenes catalyzed by rhodium nanoparticles supported on natural nanozeolite clinoptilolite

Nanozeolite clinoptilolite supported rhodium nanoparticles (Rh/NZ-CP) has been prepared and characterized by a variety of techniques, including XRD, BET, TEM, EDX, ICP-OES and XPS analysis. This nanomaterial contains 2 wt% Rh in the range of 5-20 nm metallic nanoparticles distributed on nanozeolite. The catalytic performance of Rh/NZ-CP was evaluated by the hydrogenation of arenes, nitroarenes, and alkenes under moderate reaction conditions. The prepared nanocatalyst can be facilely recovered and reused many times without significant decrease in activity and selectivity. The high catalytic activity, thermal stability and reusability, simple recovery and eco-friendly nature make present catalyst as a unique catalytic system, which is particularly attractive in green chemistry. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.