Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Reusable Catalyst Based on Metal Nanoparticles–Wool for Sono-catalytic Detoxification of Methyl Parathion

Hydrolysis is considered as one the efficient techniques for the detoxification and remediation of pesticides. For the first time, the current work deals with the catalytic hydrolysis of methyl parathion pesticide by recyclable catalyst based on metal nanoparticles–wool (MNPs-wool). Firstly, three different MNPs (AgNPs, PdNPs and AuNPs) were in situ incorporated within wool using microwave-assisted technique, via melt intercalation mechanism. The size of incorporated MNPs was 10.2 nm for AgNPs, 16.1 nm for PdNPs and 30.6 nm for AuNPs. The obtained MNPs were employed in catalytic hydrolysis of methyl parathion under stirring and ultrasonic effect, while the hydrolysis was significantly higher under the ultrasonic effect. The efficient catalytic performance of the prepared MNPs-wool was followed the order of PdNPs-wool > AuNPs-wool > AgNPs-wool. Under ultrasonic effect, methyl parathion was fully hydrolyzed (99.8%) within 3 h, using PdNPs-wool and the hydrolysis rate (K1) was 1189.9 × 10–3 min−1. The hydrolysis rate was improved by factor of 9.4 using PdNPs-wool. Hydrolysis of methyl parathion was only decreased by 8.4–15.4% after five cycles of MNPs-wool as a catalyst. The study suggested that the synthesized MNPs-wool exhibited high catalytic affinity for hydrolysis of methyl parathion with effective recyclability to be widely applicable in pesticide detoxification.