Development of metal catalysts supported on porous polymeric scaffolds

AGOSTINA SANTUCHO; MARÍA ALEJANDRA AYUDE; WALTER F. SCHROEDER; CRISTINA E. HOPPE; MARÍA SOLEDAD ÁLVAREZ CERIMEDO; HERNÁN E. ROMEO

Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires

Simposio; XVI Simposio Latinoamericano de Polímeros - SLAP 2018; 2018

INTEMA, CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata

Catalytic phenomena are found at the core of many biological and industrial processes, having led consequently to an increase interest on both fundamental and applied studies. In this framework, the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) by borohydride in the presence of metal nanostructures (MetNs) is frequently employed as a model test to probe metal catalytic activities, regarding the reaction simplicity and ease of kinetic measurements. In recent years, strategies to improve the homogeneous dispersion of MetNs on different materials towards increasingly efficient catalytically active composites have been pushed forward. A novel way to achieve 3D porous materials with structural anisotropic features consists in the directional freezing of polymer/monomer aqueous solutions. The scaffolds thus obtained have characteristics that make them versatile platforms to be functionalized by MetNs, while simultaneously offering oriented porosity and high surface areas. Heading to anisotropic porous supports able to host Ag nanowires (AgNWs) with catalytic activity towards the reduction of 4-NP, in this study we have prepared AgNWs/porous polymeric scaffolds by directional freezing of aqueous solutions of poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate (PEGDMA) oligomers in the presence of AgNWs. The activity of the nanostructures, both as a dispersion and incorporated into the porous polymeric structures, will be compared and discussed.