RETRACTED: Lanthanum-Zinc Binary Oxide Nanocomposite with Promising Heterogeneous Catalysis Performance for the Active Conversion of 4-Nitrophenol into 4-Aminophenol
Ikram Ahmad, Muhammad Asghar Jamal, Miara Iftikhar, Awais Ahmad, Shahid Hussain, Humaira Asghar, Muhammad Saeed, Ammar Bin Yousaf, Rama Rao Karri, Nada S. Al‐Kadhi, Mohamed Ouladsmane, Ayman A. Ghfar, Safia Khan
Abstract
This work intended to enhance the unique and outstanding properties of lanthanum by synthesizing its nanocomposite. A lanthanum-based nanocomposite was prepared by a simple and cost-effective “co-precipitation” method. Lanthanum nitrate (La (NO3)3) and zinc nitrate (Zn (NO3)2) were used as precursors. The lanthanum/zinc oxide nano composite formed was then calcined at 450 °C for 4 h in order to obtain a fine powder with size in the nano range of 1–100 nm. Characterization of the prepared catalyst was done by ultraviolet/visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and photoluminescence. Crystallinity and morphology were found by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The synthesized nanocomposite material was also tested for heterogeneous catalytic applications of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) reduction into 4-aminophenol (4-AP). It was found to be successful in complete reduction of 4-NP with enhanced catalytic performance.