Ultrasonic promoted synthesis of Ag nanoparticle decorated thiourea-functionalized magnetic hydroxyapatite: a robust inorganic–organic hybrid nanocatalyst for oxidation and reduction reactions

In this research, ultrasonic synthesis is applied for the fabrication of a novel catalyst, based on immobilization of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on thiourea functionalized magnetic hydroxyapatite. A recoverable Ag nano-catalyst is constructed by decoration of AgNPs on the surface of thiourea modified magnetic hydroxyapatite. Magnetic hydroxyapatite is used as an organic–inorganic hybrid support for the catalyst. The organic–inorganic hybrid support is prepared by co-precipitation, followed by its surface modification through covalent functionalization of 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-3-propyl)thiourea. The fabricated catalyst has been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis. The nanoparticles are mostly tubular in shape and their particle sizes are smaller than 100 nm. This nanocatalyst shows efficient and robust catalytic activity in different reactions, including selective reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4NP) and oxidation of primary amines by applying NaBH4 and urea hydrogen peroxide (UHP) as reagents, respectively. The catalyst shows good reusability in 10 sequential reaction runs.