USE OF SOME METAL FERRITES IN THE REDUCTION OF 2,4,6- TRINITROPHENOL

The noble-metal Nanocatalyst are widely used, but ferrite-based magnetic catalyst are rarely used. The magnetic copper ferrite, CuFe2 O4 catalyst was synthesized by hydrothermal method and used to reduce 2,4,6-trinitrophenol in presence of sodium borohydride. The copper ferrite was analysed by X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). The reduction of 2,4,6- trinitrophenol was observed in presence of copper ferrite as catalyst and sodium borohydride as the reductant. The conversion of 2, 4, 6-trinitrophenol to 2, 4, 6-triaminophenol was monitored by UV-Visible spectrophotometer. The effect of various parameters such as pH, concentration of nitro compound, and amount of catalyst were studied. The reaction was completed in 8 min in the presence of copper ferrite. It was interesting to note that copper ferrite exhibited higher rate of reduction in present of zinc and nickel ferrites, may due to synergetic effect otherwise they show very slow reduction.