LAUSR

Abstract Cu-anchored carbon nanotubes (Cu@CNTs) were cleverly fabricated through the simultaneously thermal treatment of sulfonated polymer nanotubes and copper salt precursor. The effect of calcination temperature (600 °C, 800 °C, 1000 °C) on the catalytic activity of Cu@CNTs for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) with the addition of NaBH4 has been studied in detail. The catalytic activity of the Cu@CNTs nanocomposite calcined at 800 °C was found to be better than those of the samples at 600 °C and 1000 °C, which can convert 4-NP to 4-AP in 6 min. The excellent catalytic performance of the nanocomposites was derived from the favorable catalytic properties of Cu nanoparticles, the uniform dispersion of Cu nanoparticles on CNTs and the advisable one-dimensional structure. Hence, this article provides a simple method to prepare an attractive catalyst for the reduction of 4-NP.