Facile and green synthesis of palladium nanoparticles-graphene-carbon nanotube material with high catalytic activity

Abstract

We report a facile and green method to synthesize a new type of catalyst by coating Pd nanoparticles (NPs) on reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-carbon nanotube (CNT) nanocomposite. An rGO-CNT nanocomposite with three-dimensional microstructures was obtained by hydrothermal treatment of an aqueous dispersion of graphene oxide (GO) and CNTs. After the rGO-CNT composites have been dipped in K 2 PdCl 4 solution, the spontaneous redox reaction between the GO-CNT and PdCl 4 2- led to the formation of nanohybrid materials consisting rGO-CNT decorated with 4â€...nm Pd NPs, which exhibited excellent and stable catalytic activity: the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol using NaBH 4 as a catalyst was completed in only 20â€...s at room temperature, even when the Pd content of the catalyst was 1.12 wt%. This method does not require rigorous conditions or toxic agents and thus is a rapid, efficient, and green approach to the fabrication of highly active catalysts. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.