Synthesis of Carbon-Encapsulated Cu–Ag Dimetallic Nanoparticles and Their Recyclable Superior Catalytic Activity towards 4-Nitrophenol Reduction

Graphical Carbon-encapsulated Cu–Ag dimetallic nanoparticles (C–CuAg NPs) were prepared using a facile one-pot route. The formation of C–CuAg NPs involved two steps: (1) the formation of the Cu–Ag alloy and (2) the in situ formation of the carbon layer at a low temperature (120 °C). The as-prepared C–CuAg NPs exhibited high catalytic activity and perfect reusability towards the reduction of 4-nitrophenol. A facile one-pot route has been developed for the synthesis of carbon-encapsulated Cu–Ag dimetallic nanoparticles (C–CuAg NPs). The synthesis was conducted using AgNO 3 and Cu(NO 3 ) 2 as metal precursors and ascorbic acid as the reduction agent and carbon source. The catalytic activities of the C–CuAg NPs for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) with NaBH 4 were tracked by UV/Vis spectroscopy, which demonstrates that the as-prepared C–CuAg NPs exhibit significantly enhanced catalytic activity compared with carbon-encapsulated Cu nanoparticles (C–CuNPs) and carbon-encapsulated Ag nanoparticles (C–Ag NPs). Notably, the catalysts are stable, and there is a high conversion efficiency for at least ten successive cycles. Considering the green facile preparation procedure and high catalytic activity, the prepared C–CuAg NPs hold great promise as highly efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly catalysts for industrial applications.