Pd and Fe3O4 Nanoparticles Supported on N-(2-Aminoethyl)Acetamide Functionalized Cellulose as an Efficient Catalyst for Epoxidation of Styrene

A new efficient heterogeneous catalyst was introduced for the epoxidation of styrene. The catalyst was obtained from functionalization of cellulose with N-(2-aminoethyl)acetamide, and then deposition of nanoparticles and Pd(0) nanoparticles on the modified cellulose. The Fe3O4 nanoparticles were deposited via chemical oxidation in basic media and Pd(0) nanoparticles were deposited with chemical reduction using NaBH4. The catalyst was characterized with various characterization methods including FT-IR (for study of structure modifications), XRD (for study of nanoparticles), TGA (for thermal stability), EDX (for elemental analysis), CHN (for elemental analysis of organic compounds), FAAS (for Pd and Fe concentrations) and TEM (for study of nanoparticles). High yield and excellent selectivity was achieved for the epoxidation of styrene. The reaction was performed in H2O as the green solvent at 100 °C using H2O2 as a green oxidant. The reaction has some advantages such as green solvent, high yield, excellent selectivity and green oxidant. Also, the catalyst easily was recovered with a magnet. The magnetically recovered catalyst is applicable for 4 times without decrease in the yield.