Biosynthesis of supported Pd nanoparticles using poplar leaf as a reducing agent and carrier: A green route to highly efficient and reusable Suzuki coupling reaction catalyst

ABSTRACT

A green process for the synthesis of supported Pd nanoparticles (NPs) using poplar leaf extract (PLE) as a reducing agent and the extracted residue of poplar leaf (RPL) as a carrier is reported. The Pd/RPL nanocomposites were characterized by XRD, TEM, SEM, EDS, XPS, FTIR, and ICP-AES. The spherical Pd NPs had a mean particle size of 3.1 nm and were evenly distributed on the RPL surface. More importantly, the Pd/RPL nanocomposites were used as a heterogeneous catalyst, which presented superior catalytic activity for the Suzuki coupling reaction. In addition, only a slight loss in the catalytic activity was observed after six recycles.

KEYWORDS:

• Pd nanoparticles
• biosynthesis
• heterogeneous catalyst
• poplar leaf
• Suzuki coupling reaction

Funding

This project is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China No.21276067, NSFC-RFBR No.214111301884, Program of International S&T cooperation No.2013DFR40570, and Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences.