Chitosan-based film supported copper nanoparticles: A potential and reusable catalyst for the reduction of aromatic nitro compounds.

In this study, copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) were synthesized and stabilized into a chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol) (CP) based film using a simple protocol under mild conditions. The polymeric matrix utilized in this study allows synthesizing stable nanoparticle with narrow size distribution within the film matrix. Further, this system showed very attractive properties, such as good mechanical properties, chemical resistance, easy handling during use and recovery, relatively low-cost as compared to other similar systems, among others. The catalytic performance of CP-Cu film was tested in the reduction reaction of nitrobenzene (NB) to aniline (AN). Our findings reveal that CP-Cu film catalyzes the reaction efficiently and also decreases the energy of activation (Ea) as compared to other catalysts. The catalytic efficiency of CP-Cu regarding this reaction was kept even after 6 consecutive reuse cycles. All these results rank this novel system as a promising catalyst in the reduction of aromatic nitro compounds to aromatic amines.