Temperature-responsive catalytic performance of Ag nanoparticles endowed by poly (N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) microgels

In this study, we facilely introduce silver nanoparticles into Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid)(Poly(NIPAM-co-AA)) microgels and specially focus on the effect of hydrophilic acrylic acid segments on the responsive catalytic performance of silver nanoparticles. The obtained Poly(NIPAM-co-AA)/AgNPs composites are characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The composites as catalysts are applied to the hydrogenation reaction of p-nitrophenol and the related conditions such as reaction temperature, concentration of p-nitrophenol, and the loadings of Ag nanoparticles are studied in detail. NIPAM segments of composites conveniently give silver nanoparticles a controllable characteristic for catalytic reaction by their conformation variation. AA segments of composites not only provide good stability and dispersibility for silver nanoparticles but also favor an easier diffusion of p-nitrophenol to Ag NPs. POLYM. COMPOS., 2015. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers