Atomic-level insights into strain effect on p-nitrophenol reduction via Au@Pd core–shell nanocubes as an ideal platform

Synthesis of Kaolin-Supported Nickel Oxide Composites for the Catalytic Oxidative Degradation of Methylene Blue Dye

Organic dye contamination of water is a contributing factor to environmental pollution and has a negative impact on aquatic ecology. In this study, unsupported NiO and kaolin-supported NiO composites were synthesized by a one-step wet impregnation-precipitation method through the precipitation of nickel hydroxide onto locally accessible, inexpensive, and easily treated kaolin surfaces by using sodium hydroxide as a precipitating agent. The product was calcined at 500 °C and used for the catalytic oxidative degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye in an aqueous solution. The morphology, structure, and interactions of the synthesized materials were explored by SEM, XRD, and FT-IR spectroscopy. The characterization results revealed the fabrication and the growth of NiO on the kaolin surface. To determine the catalytic oxidative degradation performance of the catalyst, many experiments have been performed using the MB dye as a model dye. The catalytic degradation tests confirmed the importance of NiO and the high catalytic activity of the synthesized NiO/kaolin composite toward MB dye degradation. The oxidative degradation results showed that the optimized precursor amount on the kaolin surface could efficiently enhance the removal of MB dye. The kinetic investigation of the catalytic degradation of MB dye fitted the pseudo-first-order kinetic model. High removal efficiency was observed after eight reuse cycles, proving the exceptional stability and reusability of the composite. The catalytic process also proceeded with a low activation energy of 30.5 kJ/mol. In conclusion, the kaolin-supported NiO composite was established to be a favorable catalyst to degrade a model dye (MB) from an aqueous solution in the presence of inexpensive and easily available NaOCl with a catalytic efficiency of the material higher than 99% of the 20.3 mg catalyst within 6 min with an apparent rate constant, kapp, higher than 0.44625 min-1, which is far better than that of the unsupported catalyst with a kapp of 0.0926 min-1 at 10 mg dose in 20 min.

Intermetallic Nanocrystals: Seed-Mediated Synthesis and Applications in Electrocatalytic Reduction Reactions

In recent years, intermetallic nanocrystals (IMNCs) have attracted extensive attention in the field of electrocatalysis. However, precise control over the size, shape, composition, structure, and exposed crystal facet of IMNCs seems to be a challenge to the traditional method of high-temperature annealing although these parameters have a significant effect on the electrocatalytic performance. Controllable synthesis of IMNCs by the wet chemistry method in the liquid phase shows great potential compared with the traditional high-temperature annealing method. In this Review, we attempt to summarize the preparation of IMNCs by the seed-mediated synthesis in the liquid phase, as well as their applications in electrocatalytic reduction reactions. Several representative examples are purposely selected for highlighting the huge potential of the seed-mediated synthesis approach in chemical synthesis. Specifically, we personally perceive the seed-mediated synthesis approach as a promising tool in the future for precise control over the size, shape, composition, structure, and exposed crystal facet of IMNCs.

Swift reduction of nitroaromatics by gold nanoparticles anchored on steam-activated carbon black via simple preparation

Gold (Au) nanoparticles supported on certain platforms display highly efficient activity on nitroaromatics reduction. In this study, steam-activated carbon black (SCB) was used as a platform to fabricate Au/SCB composites via a green and simple method for 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) reduction. The obtained Au/SCB composites exhibit efficient catalytic performance in reduction of 4-NP (rate constant k_app = 2.1925 min^-1). The effects of SCB activated under different steam temperature, Au loading amount, pH, and reaction temperature and NaBH₄ concentration were studied. The structural advantages of SCB as a platform were analyzed by various characterizations. Especially, the result of N₂ adsorption-desorption method showed that steam activating process could bring higher surface area (from 185.9689 to 249.0053 m²/g), larger pore volume (from 0.073268 to 0.165246 cm³/g), and more micropore for SCB when compared with initial CB, demonstrating the suitable of SCB for Au NP anchoring, thus promoting the catalytic activity. This work contributes to the fabrication of other supported metal nanoparticle catalysts for preparing different functional nanocomposites for different applications.

Covalent Modification of Iron Phthalocyanine into Skeleton of Graphitic Carbon Nitride and Its Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Reduction of Nitroaromatic Compounds

It is of great urgency to eliminate nitroaromatic compounds (NACs) in wastewater due to their high residue and toxicity. Photocatalysis reduction is considered to be an efficient technology for converting NACs to their corresponding aromatic amines. In this work, a visible-light-driven hybrid photocatalyst was synthesized by covalently doping Fe phthalocyanine (FePc) into graphitic carbon nitride skeleton. Compared to the pristine gCN, the optimized gCN-FePc-1 photocatalyst showed enhanced absorption in visible light region, which promoted photogenerated charge transfer and separation. Using p-nitrophenol (p-NP) as the model pollutant, the CN-FePc-1 effectively reduced it to p-aminophenol (p-AP), with the photocatalytic reaction rate being 18 and 3 times higher, respectively, than those of the pristine gCN and the mechanically mixed photocatalyst of gCN/FePc. Moreover, excellent photocatalytic universality for other NACs, high stability, and good reusability also were confirmed. Based on the band structure of the gCN-FePc-1 photocatalyst, a plausible mechanism was proposed to illustrate the photocatalytic reduction process of p-NP to p-AP. This study demonstrates that the covalent modification of FePc into gCN skeleton is an effective strategy to modulate the electronic structure, and the hybrid gCN-FePc is a potential visible-light-driven photocatalyst that potentially can be used for eliminating NAC contamination in wastewater.

One-pot synthesis of Au-M@SiO2 (M = Rh, Pd, Ir, Pt) core-shell nanoparticles as highly efficient catalysts for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol

The conversion of p-nitrophenol (4-NP) to p-aminophenol (4-AP) is of great significance for pharmaceutical and material manufacturing. In this work, Au-M@SiO2 (M = Rh, Pd, Ir, Pt) nanoparticles (NPs) with core-shell structures, which are expected to be excellent catalysts for the transformation of 4-NP to 4-AP, were synthesized by a facile one-pot one-step method. The structure and composition of the NPs were characterized through transmission electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Au-M@SiO2 (M = Rh, Pd, Ir, Pt) core-shell NPs showed excellent catalytic activity in the reduction of 4-NP, which is superior to most catalysts reported in the previous literature. The enhanced catalytic activity of Au-M@SiO2 core-shell NPs is presumably related to the bimetallic synergistic effect. This study provides a simple strategy to synthesize core-shell bimetallic NPs for catalytic applications.

Aluminum Doping and Nanostructuring Enabled Designing of Magnetically Recoverable Hexaferrite Catalysts

We demonstrate an approach based on substituting a magnetic cation with a carefully chosen isovalent non-magnetic cation to derive catalytic activity from otherwise catalytically inactive magnetic materials. Using the model system considered, the results illustratively present that the catalytically inactive but highly magnetic strontium hexaferrite (SrFe12O19; SFO) system can be transformed into a catalytically active system by simply replacing some of the magnetic cation Fe3+ by a non-magnetic cation Al3+ in the octahedral coordination environment in the SFO nanocrystals. The intrinsic SFO and Al-doped SrFe12O19 (SrFe11.5Al0.5O19; Al-SFO) nanomaterials were synthesized using a simple, eco-friendly tartrate-gel technique, followed by thermal annealing at 850 °C for 2 h. The SFO and Al-SFO were thoroughly characterized for their structure, phase, morphology, chemical bonding, and magnetic characteristics using X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometry techniques. Catalytic performance evaluated toward 4-nitrophenol, which is the toxic contaminant at pharmaceutical industries, reduction reaction using NaBH4 (mild reducing agent), the Al-doped SFO samples exhibit a reasonably good performance compared to intrinsic SFO. The results indicate that the catalytic activity of Al-SFO is due to Al-ions occupying the octahedral sites of the hexaferrite lattice; as these sites are on the surface of the catalyst, they facilitate electron transfer. Furthermore, surface/interface characteristics of nanocrystalline Al-SFO coupled with magnetic properties facilitate the catalyst recovery by simple, inexpensive methods while readily allowing the reusability. Moreover, the activity remains the same even after five successive cycles of experiments. Deriving the catalytic activity from otherwise inactive compounds as demonstrated in the optimized, engineered nanoarchitecture of Al-doped-Sr-hexaferrite may be useful in adopting the approach in exploring further options and designing inexpensive and recyclable catalytic materials for future energy and environmental technologies.

Two-Dimensional Self-Assembly of Au@Ag Core-Shell Nanocubes with Different Permutations for Ultrasensitive SERS Measurements

Different self-assembly methods not only directly change the arrangement of noble metal particles on the substrate but also indirectly affect the local electromagnetic field distribution and intensity of the substrate under specific optical excitation conditions, which leads to distinguished different enhancement effects of the structure on molecular Raman signals. In this paper, first, the gold species growth method was used to prepare the silver-coated gold nanocubes (Au@Ag NCs) with regular morphology and uniform size, and then the two-phase and three-phase liquid-liquid self-assembly and evaporation-induced self-assembly methods were used to obtain the substrate structure with different NC arrangement patterns. The optimal arrangement of NCs was found by transverse comparison of Raman signal detection of probe molecules with the same concentration. Subsequently, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) measurements of Rhodamine (Rh6G) and aspartame (APM) were carried out. Furthermore, the finite element method (FEM) was employed to calculate the local electromagnetic fields of the substrates with different Au@Ag NC arrangements, and the calculated results were in agreement with the experimental results. The experimental results show that the SERS-active substrate was largely associated with the different arrangements of Au@Ag NCs, and the island membrane Au@Ag NCs array substrate obtained by evaporation-induced self-assembly can generate a strong local electromagnetic field due to the edge and corner bonding gap between the tightly arranged NCs; this endows the substrate with benign sensitivity and reproducibility and has great potential in molecular detection, biosensing, and food safety monitoring.

One-Pot Facile Synthesis of Noble Metal Nanoparticles Supported on rGO with Enhanced Catalytic Performance for 4-Nitrophenol Reduction

In this study, reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-supported noble metal (gold, silver, and platinum) nanoparticle catalysts were prepared via the one-pot facile co-reduction technique. Various measurement techniques were used to investigate the structures and properties of the catalysts. The relative intensity ratios of I_D/I_G in rGO/Au, rGO/Ag, rGO/Pt, and GO were 1.106, 1.078, 1.047, and 0.863, respectively. The results showed the formation of rGO and that noble metal nanoparticles were decorated on rGO. Furthermore, the catalytic activities of the designed nanocomposites were investigated via 4-nitrophenol. The catalysts were used in 4-nitrophenol reduction. The catalytic performance of the catalysts was evaluated using the apparent rate constant k values. The k value of rGO/Au was 0.618 min^-1, which was higher than those of rGO/Ag (0.55 min^-1) and rGO/Pt (0.038 min^-1). The result proved that the rGO/Au catalyst exhibited a higher catalytic performance than the rGO/Ag catalyst and the rGO/Pt catalyst. The results provide a facile method for the synthesis of rGO-supported nanomaterials in catalysis.

Preparation of Reduced-Graphene-Oxide-Supported CoPt and Ag Nanoparticles for the Catalytic Reduction of 4-Nitrophenol

Composite nanostructure materials are widely used in catalysis. They exhibit several characteristics, such as the unique structural advantage and the synergism among their components, which significantly enhances their catalytic performance. In this work, CoPt nanoparticles and reduced-graphene-oxide-based nanocomposite catalysts (rGO/CoPt, rGO/CoPt/Ag) were prepared by using a facile co-reduction strategy. The crystalline structure, morphology, composition, and optical characteristics of the CoPt nanoparticles, rGO/CoPt nanocomposite, and rGO/CoPt/Ag nanocomposite catalysts were investigated by a set of techniques. The ID/IG value of the rGO/CoPt/Ag nanocomposite is 1.158, higher than that of rGO/CoPt (1.042). The kinetic apparent rate constant, k, of the rGO/CoPt/Ag nanocomposite against 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) reduction is 5.306 min−1, which is higher than that of CoPt (0.495 min−1) and rGO/CoPt (1.283 min−1). The normalized rate constant, knor, of the rGO/CoPt/Ag nanocomposite is 56.76 min−1mg−1, which is higher than some other catalytic materials. The rGO/CoPt/Ag nanocomposite shows a significantly enhanced catalytic performance when compared to CoPt nanoparticles and the rGO/CoPt nanocomposite, which may confirm that the novel rGO/CoPt/Ag nanocomposite is a promising catalyst for the application of catalytic fields.

Intriguing hierarchical Co@NC microflowers in situ assembled by nanoneedles: Towards enhanced reduction of nitroaromatic compounds via interfacial synergistic catalysis

Developing highly efficient and cost-effective catalyst with tuned microstructure holds great promise in the reduction of nitroaromatic compounds under mild reaction conditions. Herein, we report a new Co@NC-MF catalyst with a fascinating hierarchical flower-like architecture in situ assembled from uniform Co@NC nanoneedles, which can function as a favorable platform for the efficient reduction of nitroaromatic compounds in the presence of NaBH₄. In addition with the structural advantage, the characterization and experimental results demonstrate the enormous advantage of interfacial synergistic catalysis in enhancing the catalytic performance. The outside electron-rich N-doped carbon layer as Lewis basic sites and the inside Co nanoparticles are responsible for the adsorption of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) and generation of active hydrogen species, respectively. This work contributes to the construction of well-integrated composites with well-balanced interface synergy to boost the catalytic performance in various heterogeneous reactions.

Shedding Light on the Role of Misfit Strain in Controlling Core-Shell Nanocrystals

Heteroepitaxial modification of nanomaterials has become a powerful means to create novel functionalities for various applications. One of the most elementary factors in heteroepitaxial nanostructures is the misfit strain arising from mismatched lattices of the constituent parts. Misfit strain not only dictates epitaxy kinetics for diversifying nanocrystal morphologies but also provides rational control over materials properties. In recent years, advances in chemical synthesis along with the rapid development of electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques have enabled a substantial understanding of strain-related processes, which offers theoretical foundation and experimental guidance for researchers to refine heteroepitaxial nanostructures and their properties. Herein, recent investigations on heterogeneous core-shell nanocrystals containing misfit strains are summarized, with a focus on the mechanistic understanding of strain and strain-induced effects such as tuning the epitaxial habit, modulating the optical emission, and enhancing the catalytic activity and magnetic coercivity.

Quasi-homogeneous catalytic reaction and heterogeneous separation over Pd nanoparticles supported on modified poly(methyl methacrylate) with an upper critical solution temperature

A smart hydrogenation catalyst based on modified poly(methyl methacrylate) was prepared and showed excellent catalytic performance.