New magnetic Bi2WO6/CuFe2O4 nanocomposites were synthesized using hydrothermal method. The specific features of Bi2WO6/CuFe2O4 nanocomposites were studied using various analytical techniques such as Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and N2 adsorption desorption analyses, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). The BET analysis demonstrates that embedded CuFe2O4 nanopar- ticles in Bi2WO6 structure have increased the pore diameters and surface area for better adsorp- tion of NaBH4 and catalytic performance. The VSM analysis confirms the magnetic behavior of nanocomposite which showed that Bi2WO6/CuFe2O4 could be separated and recoverd easily by an external magnet after catalytic reactions. The catalytic performance of nanocomposites was investi- gated for the reduction of nitroaromatic compounds including 4-nitroaniline (4-NA), 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), 2-nitroaniline (2-NA) and 2-nitrophenol (2-NP) and chromium (VI) in aqueous solution. The results show the nanocomposites have excellent ability to reduces Cr(VI) to Cr(III) and nitroaro- matic compounds to the corresponding amines in green water solution at room temperature. The best performance observed for the 100% conversion of 4-nitrophenol reduction belongs to Bi2WO6/CuFe2O4 20%, which completes in 6 min, and its rate constant is about 0.67 min−1. In add- ition, the Bi2WO6/CuFe2O4 nanocomposite can be appropriately recycled and reused several times without changing its structure and activity, which is essential for practical applications.
