Mahboobeh Zahedifar

In this study, a novel, green, and economical approach was applied for the preparation of silver nanoparticles on the magnetic silica using the leaf extract of Origanum vulgare plant. The prepared catalyst was characterized by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and developed as a solid catalyst for the reduction of p-nitrophenol (4-NP), methyl orange (MO) and methylene blue (MB) in the presence of NaBH4 as a reductant reagent. The obtained kinetic data for the reduction of MO, MB and 4-NP were fitted to first-order rate equations and the calculated rate constants for the reduction of MO, MB, and 4-NP were as follows -0.0489, -0.054, and -0.012 s respectively. Also, these nanoparticles exhibit excellent reusability without significant loss of activity and negligible deactivation has been observed after at least 10 cycles of reaction.