Facile synthesis of highly dispersed palladium/polypyrrole nanocapsules for catalytic reduction of p-nitrophenol.

In this study, a facile one-step redox polymerization method for the preparation of highly dispersed palladium (Pd)/polypyrrole (PPy) nanocapsules has been demonstrated. During the polymerizaion process, the formation of RB-PdCl(4)(2-) complex via an electrostatic interaction plays a key role for the preparation of Pd/PPy composite nanocapsules. The well-dispersed Pd nanocrystals with small sizes of 2-4 nm embedded in PPy nanocapsules exhibited a good catalytic activity during the catalytic reduction of p-nitrophenol into p-aminophenol by NaBH(4) in aqueous solution. The kinetic apparent rate constant (k(app)) was about 8.87×10(-3) s(-1). Moreover, the as-prepared Pd/PPy composite nanocapsules exhibited a good reusability, which could be repeatedly used for the reduction of p-nitrophenol with a high catalytic activity for at least 10 successive cycles.