Effective reduction of 4-nitrophenol with Au NPs loaded ultrathin two dimensional metal-organic framework nanosheets

Abstract The catalysis performance of noble metal nanoparticles always suffered from harsh aggregation during reaction hence promising supports that were able to restrict as well disperse the NPs were in great demand. Herein we reported a bottom-up synthesis of ultrathin two dimensional ferrocene based metal-organic framework (FMOF) nanosheets employing ZrCl4 and 1,1′-ferrocene-dicarboxylic acid as metal nodes and organic ligands respectively. Employed as a stable and easy-contacted support, Au NPs were reduced and attached on the surface of FMOF nanosheets with average diameter of ca. 5 nm. The obtained Au/MOF composite was used in the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol, and rapid conversion of almost 100% could be achieved in 5 min with a maximum TOF of 10.9 × 10−4 mol min−1 m2. Moreover, after 10 cycles of the reusability test, there was no obvious decline in catalytic performance with conversion of almost 100%, confirming the unprecedented stability of this Au-MOF composite.