Zero valent iron nanoparticles as sustainable nanocatalysts for reduction reactions

ABSTRACT

The usage of zero valent iron (Fe) nanoparticles for various organic transformations has been extensively reported in the last decade because of high natural abundance, low toxicity and low cost of Fe metal. The development of synthetic strategies used for fabrication of iron nanoparticles and their stabilization using various supporting materials has made a significant contribution to their use in catalysis. This critical review gives research progress of synthesis, stabilization and characterization of zero valent Fe nanoparticles. It specially emphasizes on their use as reducing agent and as catalyst in various reduction reactions in the last ten years. Catalytic reductions of different organic substrates in the presence of Fe nanoparticles using different hydrogen sources have been mainly described critically in this review. Challenges and future perspectives for further development in the field of Iron nanoparticles catalyzed reduction reactions have been described.

Graphical abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Iron nanoparticles
• synthesis
• catalysis
• reduction

List of abbreviations

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Acknowledgments

Authors are thankful to Higher Education Commission Pakistan for financial support under National Research Program for Universities (NRPU) [No.20-3995/NRPU/R&D/HEC/14/1212] and Pakistan Program for Collaborative Research (PPCR) [22-3/HEC/R&D/PPCR/2018] to carry out collaborative work in Prof. Xiao Group at University of Liverpool, UK. A. Irfan would like to acknowledge the financial support of King Khalid University through a grant RCAMS/KKU/007-20 under the Research Center for Advanced Materials Science at King Khalid University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Conflict of interest

Authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.