Published at : 04 Apr 2023
Volume : IJtech
Vol 14, No 2 (2023)
DOI : https://doi.org/10.14716/ijtech.v14i2.5608
Salprima Yudha S | 1. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Bengkulu, Jalan W.R. Supratman, Kandang Limun, Kota Bengkulu, 38122, Indonesia, 2. Research Center of Sumatera |
Charles Banon | Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Bengkulu, Jalan W.R. Supratman, Kandang Limun, Kota Bengkulu, 38122, Indonesia |
Aswin Falahudin | Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Bengkulu, Jalan W.R. Supratman, Kandang Limun, Kota Bengkulu, 38122, Indonesia |
Muhamad Alvin Reagen | Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Bengkulu, Jalan W.R. Supratman, Kandang Limun, Kota Bengkulu, 38122, Indonesia |
Noor Haida Mohd Kaus | School of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Penang, Malaysia |
Subhan Salaeh | Department of Rubber Technology and Polymer Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Prince of Songkla University, Pattani Campus, Pattani 94000, Thailand |
Oil palm leaves are natural sources of bio-silica. In situ carbothermal degradation was conducted at 600°C using silver nitrate as a metallic silver (Ag) precursor and oil palm leaves as a silica (SiO2) source. X-ray diffraction of the solid product (Ag@OPLA600) revealed the presence of Ag and SiO2 from the oil palm leaves. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed an absorbance consistent with the presence of SiO2. Scanning electron microscopy revealed a solid surface with cavities. Ag@OPLA600 was used as a heterogeneous mediator to reduce p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol within 15 minutes. This work provides a new approach for the utilization of sustainable natural resources as a metal Ag supporting material to produce a mediator for the conversion of p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol in a simple manner.
Carbo-thermal degradation; Heterogeneous mediator; Oil palm leaves; Silver-based composite
Silica
(SiO2) is the most abundant compound in nature and is found in
various living organisms. The most common sources of natural silica in living
organisms are sugarcane bagasse and rice husks (Permatasari,
Sucahya, and Nandiyanto, 2016;
Prasad and Pandey, 2012). The
high demand for silica in chemistry and chemical technology has prompted
intensive research efforts toward the utilization of biogenic silica as main or
supporting material (Prabha et al., 2020; Bahadur et
al., 2011). For example, silica is commonly
used as a supporting material to prepare heterogeneous catalysts (Corro et al., 2017; Adam, Ahmed, and Min, 2008). Recently, a heterogeneous silver-based catalyst was
prepared by simply impregnating waste rice husk with silver ions, which were
converted to supported nanoparticles through carbothermal reduction under a
nitrogen atmosphere (Unglaube, Kreyenschulte,
and Mejía, 2021).
Silver–silica derivatives (Ag2O–SiO2) were demonstrated
to exhibit good activity toward bacteria (Hou et
al., 2018; Peszke et al., 2017;
The utilization of biomass from
agricultural wastes to produce various materials with diverse applications has
spawned considerable research (Kartohardjono, Pamitran, and Putra, 2019). In Indonesia, palm oil stands
out as a popular agricultural commodity, whose production generates various
types of waste. Consequently, the valorization of such wastes in, for example,
the delignification of oil palm empty fruit bunches (Hermansyah
et al., 2019) and the
extraction of palmitic from oil palm (Mulia et al., 2018) is attracting increasing research attention.
In this context, oil palm leaves
(OPL) are particularly interesting owing to their high silica content, which
can be produced from burning OPL. Recent studies have demonstrated that OPL can
be used to obtain significant amounts of silica to prepare diverse materials (Onoja et al., 2018; Onoja et al., 2017). For example, the authors’ research group reported
the use of OPL to produce silica-containing materials, which were then used as
precursors in the manufacture of calcium silicate derivatives (Yudha et al., 2020a), ZnO–SiO2,
and Zn2SiO4 (Yudha et al., 2020b). Moreover, the decomposition product of OPL was used
as a support material for gold particles as catalysts for the reduction of
nitroarene compounds (Yudha et al., 2021).
In this study, a silver-based composite (Ag@OPLA600) was fabricated via a facile and straightforward method involving a simple impregnation of silver ions into OPL ash powders followed by carbothermal degradation at 600°C to destroy the organic materials and reduce silver ions to metallic silver. The obtained composite was then used as a mediator for the heterogeneous reduction of p-nitrophenol (p-NP) to p-aminophenol (p-AP), which is one of the intermediates in the synthesis of N-(4-hydroxyphenyl) acetamide (commonly known as paracetamol) via a simple acetylation process (Abdullaev et al., 2014). Heterogeneous systems are often used as reaction mediators or catalysts due to their easy separation, recyclability, and reusability. In this case, silver particles as the active material are either attached to the surface or trapped in silica for the reduction of p-NP to p-AP.
2.1. Materials
All glassware and crucibles used in the experiments
should be cleaned with a freshly prepared aqua-regia solution. The chemical reagents such as silver nitrate, acetone,
and p-nitrophenol were purchased from Merck (Germany), and NaBH4 was
purchased from Sigma–Aldrich (Singapore); demineralized water was
purchased from Brataco Chemika (Indonesia). The chemicals used in this work
were of analytical grade and were used as received without any further
purification. The OPL powder preparation follows the previously reported
procedure (Yudha et al., 2020a).
2.2.
Methods
The Ag@OPLA600 composite was
synthesized using a solid-state reaction between OPL and silver nitrate (AgNO3)
according to a modified literature procedure (Unglaube,
Kreyenschulte, and Mejía, 2021). Specifically, nitrogen gas was not used in this
study for the solid-state reaction. Briefly, 1 g of AgNO3 was placed
in a solvent mixture of acetone/demineralized water (50 mL/5 mL) in a crucible
and stirred until completely dissolved. Subsequently, 4 g of OPL powder was
added to the AgNO3 solution with stirring until all the OPL powder
was suspended. The reaction mixture was heated to 70°C to form a gel on the
bottom of the crucible. The gel was left to stand for 12 hours and then placed
in a furnace, where the temperature was increased to 600°C for 2 hours and
maintained at 600°C for another 3 hours before cooling down for 12 hours. The
as-obtained Ag@OPLA600 composite was characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD
MiniFlex, Rigaku) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR, Compact FT-IR Alpha 2,
Bruker) spectroscopy to obtain the phase and vibration patterns, respectively,
and scanning electron microscopy (SEM, JEOL, JED-2300) and energy-dispersive
X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) for the surface and elemental analysis, respectively.
Figure 1
Illustration/scheme for the experimental procedure in preparing composite and
its function in reduction of p-nitrophenol (p -NP) to p-aminophenol
(p-AP)
3.1. Composite Preparation
and Characterization
Figure 2 (a) XRD pattern of Ag@OPLA600, (b) FTIR spectrum of
OPL powder (c) FTIR spectrum of Ag@OPLA600 |
Element |
K(eV) |
% Mass |
C |
0.277 |
5.12 |
O |
0.525 |
49.1 |
Mg |
1.253 |
0.42 |
Si |
1.739 |
19.45 |
P |
2.013 |
0.40 |
Cl |
2.621 |
0.39 |
Ag |
2.983 |
19.73 |
K |
3.312 |
2.08 |
Ca |
3.690 |
2.05 |
Cu |
8.040 |
0.87 |
Zn |
8.630 |
0.48 |
3.2. Composite Application
The
Ag@OPLA600 composite was applied as a heterogeneous mediator for the reduction
of p-NP with the assistance of
hydrogen produced in situ from NaBH4 dissolved in water. The
reaction could be followed with the naked eye as follows: When NaBH4
was added to the solution of p-NP,
the color changed from transparent to yellow due to the formation of a p-nitrophenolate intermediate.
Interestingly, the yellow solution slowly turned transparent again when
Ag@OPLA600 was added due to the conversion of p-nitrophenolate to p-AP,
as shown in Figure 4.
A
UV-Visible spectrophotometry analysis was performed to gain more insight into
the transformation of p-NP to p-AP. Figure 4a displays a spectrum of p-NP in water, which shows a clear
absorbance at 316 nm. The solution of this compound was clear. Then, the
addition of NaBH4 to the p-NP solution resulted in a deprotonation reaction
and the formation of nitrophenolate ions (yellow solution), as indicated by a
new peak at 401 nm (Figure 4b) (Nurwahid et al., 2022;
Hou et al., 2016). The Ag@OPLA600 composite helped deliver hydrogen
ions from NaBH4 to the nitro group in the p-nitrophenolate ion structure. The reduction of the nitro group to
the amine group in the presence of Ag@OPLA600 occurred within 15 minutes,
evidenced by the rapid disappearance of the p-NP
peak. The disappearance of the peak of the 4-nitrophenolate ions was
accompanied by a new peak at 301 nm due to p-AP
(Figure 4c).
The reaction of nitrophenolate ions is known to be kinetically hindered and affected by the repulsion between BH4- and p-nitrophenolate ions; therefore, it does not occur in the absence of a suitable catalyst (Kalantari et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2018; Baruah et al, 2013; Li and Chen, 2013; Huang et al., 2010). To gain more insight into this reaction, a qualitative analysis was performed using pristine p-NP and p-NP treated with Ag@OPLA600 in the absence of NaBH4, as shown in Figure 5. p-nitrophenol (p-NP) (Figure 5a) was converted to p-nitrophenolate ions (Figure 5b) in the presence of Ag@OPLA600, which is sufficiently basic to promote the ionization of the phenol group in a water environment. However, due to the lack of a hydrogen source in the reaction mixture, the conversion to p-AP did not proceed even when the reaction mixture was left to stand at room temperature for 24 h.
Figure 5 UV-Visible
Spectrophotometry analysis of p-nitrophenol reactivity in the presence
of Ag@OPLA600; (a) p-nitrophenol spectrum, (b) p-nitrophenolate
ion spectrum
Figure 6 The
possible general reaction mechanism of reduction of the p-nitrophenol to
p-aminophenol in the presence of Ag@OPLA600
This carbothermal
degradation of OPL in the presence of AgNO3 is advantageous
regarding eco-friendliness and cost-effectiveness. First, a cost-effective
fabrication is achieved using a one-pot process to form Ag@OPL600. Second,
nontoxic and sustainable raw materials are used, and the generation of chemical waste is minimized.
A green
solid–solid reaction between OPL and AgNO3 at 600 °C produced a solid Ag@OPLA600
composite, which was used as an inexpensive mediator for the reduction of p-NP to p-AP. The results demonstrate the potential of this approach for
waste and biomass valorization, especially in the case of palm oil biomass.
These findings could pave the way for the development of sustainable and
cost-effective technologies for reducing waste and utilizing renewable
resources. While further research is needed to fully explore the potential of
this approach, the results of this study represent an important step forward in
this field.
The highest praise goes to Universitas Bengkulu
(UNIB) for providing research funds to enable increased collaboration between
UNIB researchers and researchers from other countries to run smoothly. This
International Research Collaboration research grant is being carried out under
a research contract with Lembaga Penelitian dan Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat
(LPPM) UNIB, Contract No: 1747/UN30.15/PG/2021 (June 22, 2021).
Abdullaev, M.G., Abdullaeva, Z.S., Klyuev, M.V.,
Kafarova, S.S., Gebekova, Z.G., 2014.
Kinetics of the production of p-acetaminophenol and p-hydroxyphenylsalicylamide
by reductive acylation of p-nitrophenol on palladium-containing
anionites. Pharmaceutical Chemistry Journal, Volume 47, pp. 610–611
Adam,
F., Ahmed, A.E., Min, S.L., 2008. Silver modified porous silica from rice husk and its
catalytic potential. Journal of Porous Material, Volume 15, pp. 433–444
Al-Namil, D.S. Khoury, E.E., Patra, D., 2019. Solid-state green synthesis
of AgNPs: higher temperature
harvests larger AgNPs but smaller
size has better catalytic
reduction reaction. Scientific Reports, Volume 9, p. 5212
Assis,
M., Simoes, L.G.P., Tremiliosi, G.C., Coelho, D., Minozzi, D.T., Santos, R.I.,
Vilela, D.C.B., do Santos, J.R., Ribeiro, L.K., Rosa, I.L.V., Mascaro, L.H.,
Andrés, J., Longo, E., 2021.
SiO2-Ag composite as a highly virucidal material: a roadmap that
rapidly eliminates SARS-CoV-2. Nanomaterials, Volume 11(3), p. 638
Bahadur,
N.M., Furusawa, T., Sato, M., Kurayama, F., Siddiquey, I.A., Suzuki, N., 2011. Fast and facile synthesis of silica
coated silver nanoparticles by microwave irradiation. Journal of Colloid and
Interface Science, Volume 355,
pp. 312–320
Baruah,
B., Gabriel, G.J., Akbashev, M.J., Booher, M.E., 2013. Facile synthesis of
silver nanoparticles stabilized by cationic polynorbornenes and their catalytic
activity in 4-nitrophenol reduction. Langmuir,
Volume 29, pp. 4225?4234
Corro,
G., Vidal, E., Cebada, S., Pal, U., Banuelos, F., Vargas, D., Guilleminot, E., 2017. Electronic state of silver in Ag/SiO2
and Ag/ZnO catalysts and its effect on diesel particulate matter oxidation: an
XPS study. Applied Catalysis B:
Environmental, Volume 216, pp. 1–10
Cui,
J., Liang, Y., Yang, D., Liu, Y., 2016.
Facile fabrication of rice husk based silicon dioxide nanospheres loaded
with silver nanoparticles as a rice antibacterial agent. Scientific Reports,
Volume 6, p. 21423
Deshmukh,
P., Peshwe, D., Pathak, S., 2012. FTIR and TGA analysis in relation with the %
crystallinity of the SiO2 obtained by burning rice husk at various
temperatures. Advanced Materials Research. Volume 585, pp. 77–81
Flores,
J.C., Torres, V., Popa, M., Crespo, D., Calderón-Moreno, J.M., 2008. Preparation of core–shell nanospheres
of silica–silver: SiO2@Ag. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 354, pp. 5435–5439
Hermansyah, H., Putri, D.N., Prasetyanto, A.,
Chairuddin, Z.B., Perdani, M.S., Sahlan, M., Yohda, M., 2019. Delignification
of oil palm empty fruit bunch using peracetic acid and alkaline peroxide
combined with the ultrasound. International Journal of Technology,
Volume 10(8), pp. 1523–1532
Hou,
J., Yu, B., Liu, E., Dong, W., Lu, P., Wang, Z., Yang, V.C., Gong, J., 2016. High
efficiency, stable and controllable multi-cores rattle-type Ag@SiO2 catalyst
for reduction of 4-nitrophenol. RSC Advances, Volume 6, pp. 95263–95272
Hou,
Y.-X., Abdullah, H., Kuo, D.-H., Leu, S.-J., Gultom, N.S., Su, C.H., 2018. A
comparison study of SiO2/nano metal oxide composite sphere for
antibacterial application. Composites Part B, Volume 133, pp. 166–176
Huang, J., Vongehr, S., Tang, S., Lu, H., Meng, X.,
2010. Highly catalytic Pd-Ag bimetallic dendrites. The Journal of Physical
Chemistry C, Volume 114, pp. 15005–15010
Jiang,
X., Chen, S., Mao, C., 2008. Synthesis of Ag/SiO2 nanocomposite
material by adsorption phases nanoreactor technique. Colloids and Surfaces
A: Physicochemical and Engneering Aspects, Volume 320, pp. 104–110
Kadam,
H.K., Tilve, S.G., 2015. Advancement in methodologies
for reduction of nitroarenes. RSC Advances, Volume 5, pp. 83391–83407
Kalantari, K., Afifififi, A.B.M., Bayat, S.,
Shameli, K., Yousefifi, S., Mokhtar, N., Kalantari, A., 2019. Heterogeneous
catalysis in 4-nitrophenol degradation and antioxidant activities of silver
nanoparticles embedded in Tapioca starch. Arabian Journal of Chemistry, Volume 12, pp. 5246–5252
Kartohardjono, S., Pamitran, A.S., Putra, N., 2019. Biomass: from waste to valuable materials. International Journal of Technology, Volume 10(8), pp. 1465–1468
Kong, X., Zhu, H., Chen, C.-L., Huang, G., Chen, Q., 2017. insights into the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol on catalysts. Chemical Physics Letters, Volume 684, pp. 148–152
Li, M., Chen, G., 2013. Revisiting catalytic model
reaction p-nitrophenol/NaBH4 using metallic nanoparticles coated on polymeric
spheres. Nanoscale, Volume 5, pp. 11919–11927
Mulia, K., Adam, D., Zahrina, I., Krisanti. E.A.,
2018. Green extraction of palmitic acid from palm oil using
betaine-based natural deep eutectic solvents. International Journal of
Technology, Volume 9(2), pp. 335–344
Musi?,
S., Filipovi?-Vincekovi?, N., Sekovani?, L., 2011. Precipitation of amorphous SiO2
particles and their properties. Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering,
Volume 28 (1), pp. 89–94
Nurwahid,
I.H., Dimonti, L.C.C., Dwiatmoko, A.A., Ha, J.-M., Yunarti, R.T., 2022.
Investigation on SiO2 derived from sugarcane bagasse ash and pumice
stone as a catalyst support for silver metal in the 4-nitrophenol reduction
reaction. Inorganic Chemistry Communications, Volume 35, p. 109098
Onoja
E., Attan, N., Chandren, S.,
Razak, F.I.A., Keyon, A.S.A., Mahat, N.A.,
Wahab, R.A., 2017. Insights into the physicochemical
properties of the malaysian oil palm leaves as an alternative source of
industrial materials and bioenergy. Malaysian Journal of Fundamental and
Applied Sciences, Volume 13(4), pp. 623–631
Onoja,
E., Chandren, S., Ilyana,
F., Razak, A., Wahab, R.A., 2018. Extraction of nanosilica from oil palm
leaves and its application as support for lipase immobilization. Journal of
Biotechnology, Volume 283(10), pp. 81–96
Park,
H.-H., Zhang, X., Choi, Y.-J., Park, H.-H., Hill, R.-H., 2011. Synthesis of Ag nanostructures by
photochemical reduction using citrate-capped Pt Seeds. Journal of
Nanomaterials, Volume
2011, p. 265287
Permatasari,
N., Sucahya, T.N., Nandiyanto, A.B.D., 2016.
Review: agricultural wastes as a source of silica material. Indonesian
Journal of Science & Technology, Volume 1(1), pp. 82–106
Peszke,
J., Dulski, M., Nowak, A., Balin, K., Zubko, M., Su?owicz, S., Nowak, B.,
Piotrowska-Seget, Z., Talik, E., Wojtyniak, M., Mrozek-Wilczkiewicz, A.,
Malarzbf, K., Szade, J., 2017.
Unique properties of silver and copper silica-based nanocomposites as
antimicrobial agents. RSC Advances. Volume 7, pp. 28092–28104
Prabha,
S., Durgalakshmi, D., Rajendran, S., Lichtfouse, E. 2020. Plant?derived silica
nanoparticles and composites for biosensors, bioimaging, drug delivery and
supercapacitors: a review. Environmental Chemistry Letters, Volume 19, pp. 1667–1691
Prasad,
R., Pandey, M., 2012. Rice husk ash as a renewable source for
the production of value-added silica gel and its application: an overview. Bulletin
of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis, Volume 7(1),
pp. 1–25
Quang,
D.V., Sarawade, P.B., Hilong, A., Kim, J.-K., Chai, Y.G. Kim, S.H., Ryu, J.-Y.,
Kim, H.T., 2011. Preparation of silver nanoparticle
containing silica micro beads and investigation of their antibacterial
activity. Applied Surface Science, Volume 257, pp. 6963–6970
Rajamanikandan, R., Shanmugaraj, K., Ilanchelian, M.,
2017. Concentration dependent catalytic activity of glutathione coated silver
nanoparticles for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol and organic dyes. Journal Cluster Sciences, Volume 28, pp.
1009–1023
Syed,
S., Prasad, N.M.N. Dhananjaya, B.L. Kumar, M.K., Yallappa S., Satish S., 2019. Synthesis of silver nanoparticles by
endosymbiont pseudomonas ?uorescens CA 417 and their bactericidal activity. Enzyme
and Microbial Technology. Volume 95, pp. 128–136
Unglaube,
F., Kreyenschulte, C.R., Mejía, E., 2021. Development and application of efficient
Ag-based hydrogenation catalysts prepared from rice husk waste. The European
Society Journal for Catalys. Volume 13, pp. 1–10
Waterhouse,
G.I.N., Bowmaker, G.A., Metson, J.B., 2011.
The thermal decomposition of silver (I, III) oxide: a combined XRD, FT-IR and
raman spectroscopic study. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physic, Volume 3, pp. 3838–384
Yang,
P., Zhang, Y., Huang, B., 2013.
Size-adjusted hollow Ag spheres fabricated through reducing Ag2O
in-situ. Materials Research Bulletin, Volume 48, pp.
3756–3760
Yudha
S, S., Falahudin, A., Asdim, Han, J.I., 2021. In situ preparation of gold–silica particles from a
mixture of oil palm leaves and chloroauric acid for reduction of nitroaromatic
compounds in water. Waste and Biomass valorization, Volume 12, pp. 3773–3780
Yudha
S, S., Falahudin, A., Kaus, N.H.M., Thongmee, S., Ikram, S., Asdim, 2020a.
Preliminary synthesis of calcium silicates using oil palm leaves and eggshells.
Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis, Volume 15(2), pp. 561–567
Yudha
S, S., Robkhob, P., Imbon, T., Falahudin, A., Asdim, 2020b. ZnO-SiO2 and Zn2SiO4
synthesis utilizing oil palm leaves for degradation of methylene blue dye in
aqueous solution. The Journal
of the Indonesian Chemical Society, Volume 3(2) pp. 94–100
Zhang, J., Yan, Z., Fu, L., Zhang, Y., Yang, H.,
Ouyang, J., Chen, D., 2018. Silver nanoparticles assembled on modi?ed sepiolite
nano?bers for enhanced catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol. Applied Clay
Sciences, Volume 166, pp. 166?173