Silver and palladium nanoparticle embedded poly(n-isopropylacrylamide-co-2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid) hybrid microgel catalyst with pH and temperature dependent catalytic activity

Here in, we demonstrate facile fabrication of silver and palladium nanoparticles in dual responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide- co -2-Acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid) microgel with temperature- and pH-dependent catalytic potential. Palladium-based catalyst showed better catalytic efficiency as compared to silver-based catalyst for degradation of Rhodamine-B and P-Nitrophenol in aqueous medium under the same set of reaction conditions. The responsive nature of the microgel was found to be useful to tune the catalytic activity of the as-prepared catalysts, and reduction rate was enhanced with the pH and temperature elevation of the reaction medium; however, the increasing trend was slowed in the volume phase transition region of the microgel. Under a specific set of reaction conditions, the reduction of Rhodamine-B was as fast as 0.968 and 0.571 min −1 when catalyzed with palladium and silver based catalysts, respectively. The hydrodynamic radius of the particles of microgel support was found to be in the range of 65-180 nm when pH and temperature of the medium were varied in the range of 2-12 and 25-45, respectively. The estimated diameter of silver and palladium nanoparticles fabricated in the microgel support under the same set of reaction conditions was 9-15 and 7-11 nm, respectively.