Fabrication of a temperature-responsive and recyclable MoS2 nanocatalyst through composting with poly (N-isopropylacrylamide)

A temperature-responsive, recyclable nanocatalyst was fabricated by composting the exfoliated molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) nanosheets with poly ( N -isopropylacry lamide) (PNIPAM). The structure and morphology of MoS 2 /PNIPAM nanocatalyst was fully characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The temperature-responsive properties of the MoS 2 /PNIPAM nanocatalyst were confirmed by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Ultraviolet–visible ((UV–vis)) absorption spectroscopy. The catalytic activities of the MoS 2 /PNIPAM nanocatalyst were studied using the reduction reaction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) as the model reaction. Results showed that the catalytic activity of the MoS 2 /PNIPAM nanocatalyst could be regulated by temperature. Furthermore, when the temperature went higher than the low critical solution temperature (LCST) of PNIPAM, the MoS 2 /PNIPAM nanocatalyst tended to aggregated to form bulk materials from homogeneous suspension.