Interplay between Nanoparticles and Phosphorus Dendrimers, and Their Properties

This review presents the state of the art of interactions between two different families of nanoobjects: nanoparticles-mainly metal nanoparticles, and dendrimers-mainly phosphorhydrazone dendrimers (or dendrons). The review firstly presents the encapsulation/protection of existing nanoparticles (organic or metallic) by phosphorus-based dendrimers and dendrons. In the second part, several methods for the synthesis of metal nanoparticles, thanks to the dendrimer that acts as a template, are presented. The properties of the associations between dendrimers and nanoparticles are emphasized throughout the review. These properties mainly concern the elaboration of diverse types of hybrid materials, some of them being used as sensitive chemosensors or biosensors. Several examples concerning catalysis are also given, displaying in particular the efficient recovery and reuse of the catalytic entities.

The solvent-free mechano-chemical grinding of a bifunctional P25-graphene oxide adsorbent-photocatalyst and its configuration as porous beads

Owing to their use in water-cleaning technology, titanium-dioxide-based nanomaterials have dominated the photocatalysis scene, with so-called Degussa (P25) being the most promising under UV light. However, this is not the case under visible light, where it is necessary to combine titanium dioxide with other photosensitising nanomaterials. Unfortunately, most of the strategies aimed in this direction are chemically non-facile, energy-intensive, economically expensive, and not suitable for large-scale production. We herein describe a straightforward solvent-free approach for accessing visible-light-activated titanium-dioxide-based photocatalysts via the mechanochemical grinding of Degussa P25 with a second solid partner. Upon comparing several solid-material benchmarks, P25-graphene oxide is the best combination. The resulting material showed efficient performance for the adsorption and photodegradation of different dye pollutants, namely methylene blue, malachite green, Congo red, and methyl orange. The recorded performance was nearly comparable to that reached using sol-gel materials, with the ultimate advantage of being more sustainable and industrially scalable. The recyclability can be improved through a porous-bead configuration using biomass waste chitosan hydrogel, an approach that can further fulfill the requirement for more sustainable photocatalyst designs.

Growth of binary anatase–rutile on phosphorylated graphene through strong P–O–Ti bonding affords a stable visible-light photocatalyst

Phosphorylated graphene sheets covalently bind, grow and stabilize biphasic anatase–rutile clusters through strong P–O–Ti bridges. The resulting nanocomposites stands as efficient visible-light photocatalysts for the degradation of dyes from water.

Hybrid phosphorus–viologen dendrimers as new soft nanoparticles: design and properties

Design of new families of dendritic soft nanoparticles constituted of phosphorus, viologen and carbosilane fragments and their properties as nanomaterials and applications in biology.

Phosphorylation triggered growth of metal phosphate on halloysite and sepiolite nanoparticles: preparation, entrapment in chitosan hydrogels and application as recyclable scavengers

Surprising growth of crystalline metal phosphate during clay phosphorylation. When entangled in chitosan beads, good adsorption performance could be reached.

Interfacial complexation driven three-dimensional assembly of cationic phosphorus dendrimers and graphene oxide sheets

High content nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus heteroatoms assembled in tree-like dendrimers (DG _n ) are confined within the galleries of two-dimensional graphene oxide (GO). The presence of the ternary diethyl-N-ethyl-ammonium groups on the dendrimer peripheries ensures the exfoliation of graphene sheets thereby affording interfacially bridged, three-dimensional heteroatom-enriched graphene-based hybrid nanostructures (DG _n -GO). Dendrimer generation (from 1 to 4) that reflects the bulkiness of these conceived nano-trees impacts increasingly the degree of dispersion-exfoliation and sheet desordering. The long-term stability of these aqueous suspensions associated with their handling flexibility allows uniform accommodation of the resulting hybrid materials as flame-retardants in bioplastics.

Phosphorylated micro- vs. nano-cellulose: a comparative study on their surface functionalisation, growth of titanium-oxo-phosphate clusters and removal of chemical pollutants

Phosphorylation imparts cellulose (amorphous or crystalline) with original surface reactivity to bridge metal oxide clusters and to scavenge for chemicals.

Urea-assisted cooperative assembly of phosphorus dendrimer–zinc oxide hybrid nanostructures

The interplay of phosphorus dendrimer–urea during sol–gel mineralization of soluble zinc precursors provides porous lamellar nanostructures.

Ternary cooperative assembly--polymeric condensation of photoactive viologen, phosphonate-terminated dendrimers and crystalline anatase nanoparticles

Photoactive viologen fragments were covalently embedded within the material framework during the self-assembly and sol-gel polymerisation of phosphonate-terminated dendrimers and soluble titanium-oxo-species. The resulting porous anisotropic phosphonate-bridged-crystalline anatase materials serve as new hosts to disperse and stabilize small gold nanoparticles.

Self-assembly of amine-functionalized gold nanoparticles on phosphonate-functionalized graphene nanosheets: a highly active catalyst for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol

Au-NP@NH₂ can effectively self-assemble on the surface of GNS-PO₃H₂ and show excellent catalytic activity in the reduction of 4-nitrophenol.