Ionic Liquid–Coated Bimetallic Magnetic Nanoparticles: An Efficient Catalyst System for the Degradation of Isomers of Nitroaniline

ABSTRACT In this study, four distinct ionic liquid–modified bimetallic magnetic nanoparticles (IL‐BMNPs) were synthesized by one‐step simple chemical reduction method. The catalytic performance of these tailor‐made bimetallic catalysts integrated the hydrophilic characteristics of the ionic liquid (1‐butyl‐3‐methyl imidazolinium tetrafluoroborate) along with the magnetic properties of the bimetals, which consist of iron and cobalt or cobalt and nickel. The Fe/Co and Co/Ni bimetallic nanoparticles were synthesized in the stoichiometric ratios of 1:3 and 3:1. Various characterization techniques were employed to analyze the synthesized nanoparticles, including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, UV‐visible (UV‐vis) absorption spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction studies, vibrating sample magnetometer, scanning electron microscope, and Energy dispersive X‐ray analysis. The synthesized IL‐BMNPs were used as catalysts for the degradation of all the isomers of nitroanilines ( o ‐nitroaniline, m ‐nitroaniline, p ‐nitroaniline) in the presence of sodium borohydride at room temperature. Of the four IL‐BMNPs, Co/Ni (3:1) NPs exhibited a higher rate of o ‐nitroaniline degradation due to its stronger catalytic activity compared to the other modified bimetallic nanoparticles. The progress of the degradation process was effectively tracked through the utilization of UV‐vis spectroscopy, and it was observed that the reaction reached 100% degradation of the nitroaniline within a relatively short period of 25 min. In addition, p ‐ nitroaniline was also degraded by the synthesized nanoparticles. Notably, the bimetallic combinations, such as Co/Ni (1:3) Co/Ni (3:1) and Fe/Co (1:3), accomplished 99% degradation of p ‐nitroaniline within 9 min. Furthermore, the reduction of m ‐nitroaniline resulted in 99% degradation using Co/Ni (1:3) NPs within 21 min.