Efficient catalytic reduction of highly toxic aqueous Cr(VI) with Fe@CBC/Pd composites at room temperature.

We report a facile approach to fabricating catalytic active palladium nanoparticles (NPs) immobilized on Fe-loaded carbonized bacterial cellulose nanofibers (Fe@CBC) for the catalytic reduction of toxic Cr(VI) to Cr(III) at room temperature. The formed nanofiber composites (Fe@CBC/Pd) was investigated by various physicochemical characterization and its catalytic activity, and reusability were evaluated as well. The results demonstrated that the Fe@CBC/Pd exhibited favorable catalytic activity for the reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) in the presence of HCOOH. Moreover, the catalyst could be easily recovered from reaction system in a facile manner and recycled four times without obvious loss in activity.