Covalent Organic Framework-Functionalized Magnetic CuFe2O4/Ag Nanoparticles for the Reduction of 4-Nitrophenol

In this work, magnetic CuFe2O4/Ag nanoparticles activated by porous covalent organic frameworks (COF) was fabricated to evaluate the heterogenous reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). The core-shell CuFe2O4/Ag@COF was successfully prepared by polydopamine reduction of silver ions on CuFe2O4 nanoparticles, followed by COF layer condensation. By integrating the intrinsic characteristics of the magnetic CuFe2O4/Ag core and COF layer, the obtained nanocomposite exhibited features of high specific surface area (464.21 m2 g-1), ordered mesoporous structure, strong environment stability, as well as fast magnetic response. Accordingly, the CuFe2O4/Ag@COF catalyst showed good affinity towards 4-NP via π-π stacking interactions and possessed enhanced catalytic activity compared with CuFe2O4/Ag and CuFe2O4@COF. The pseudo-first-order rate constant of CuFe2O4/Ag@COF (0.77 min-1) is 3 and 5 times higher than CuFe2O4/Ag and CuFe2O4@COF, respectively. The characteristics of bi-catalytic CuFe2O4/Ag and the porous COF shell of CuFe2O4/Ag@COF made a contribution to improve the activity of 4-NP reduction. The present work demonstrated a facile strategy to fabricate COF-activated nano-catalysts with enhanced performance in the fields of nitrophenolic wastewater treatment.