Ag@Silsequioxanes: Synthesis and Its Catalytic Reduction Performance for p-Nitrophenol

Aminopropyltriethoxysilane and oxalyl chloride were used as raw materials to synthesize silsesquioxanes containing imino and carbonyl functional groups. A composite with silver nanoparticles (average particle size of about 15 nm) uniformly dispersed on the surface of the siloxane polymer was obtained through coordination adsorption and reduction. The research results showed that the weight percentage of silver loaded in the composite was about 13.66% and p-nitrophenol (4-NP) was completely reduced to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) within 6 min at 25 degrees C in aqueous solution by the composite catalyst, and the composite catalyst remained 95% activity after used 7 times. Under room temperature and one atmospheric pressure, the highest activity of the composite catalyst was about 33.0 g(4-AP).g(Ag)(-1), which showed excellent catalytic reduction performance.