Silver oxide doped iron oxide/alginate nanocomposite coated cotton cloth for selective catalytic reduction of potassium ferricyanide

Silver oxide doped iron oxide (Ag2O–Fe2O3) nanocatalyst was prepared and coated on cotton cloth (CC) and additionally enveloped in sodium alginate (Alg) hydrogel. Ag2O–Fe2O3 coated CC (Ag2O–Fe2O3/CC) and Ag2O–Fe2O3 wrapped Alg (Ag2O–Fe2O3/Alg) were considered as catalysts regarding reduction reaction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), congo red (CR), methylene blue (MB) and potassium ferricyanide (K3[Fe(CN)6]). Ag2O–Fe2O3/CC and Ag2O–Fe2O3/Alg were found to be effective and selective catalyst for reaction of K3[Fe(CN)6]. Further amount of catalyst, K3[Fe(CN)6] quantity, amount of NaBH4, stability of catalyst and recyclability were optimized for the reaction of K3[Fe(CN)6]. Ag2O–Fe2O3/Alg and Ag2O–Fe2O3/CC were appeared to be the stable catalysts by maintaining high activity during recyclability tests showing highest reaction rate constants (kapp) of 0.3472 and 0.5629 min−1, correspondingly. However, Ag2O–Fe2O3/CC can be easily recovered as compared to Ag2O–Fe2O3/Alg by simply removing from the reaction which is the main advantage of Ag2O–Fe2O3/CC. Moreover, Ag2O–Fe2O3/Alg and Ag2O–Fe2O3/CC were also examined in real samples and found useful for K3[Fe(CN)6] reaction involving real samples. The nanocatalyst gives a new cost and time saving material and route for economical reduction of K3[Fe(CN)6] for environmental safety.