Synthesis of Carbon‐Encapsulated Cu–Ag Dimetallic Nanoparticles and Their Recyclable Superior Catalytic Activity towards 4‐Nitrophenol Reduction. Issue 28 (2nd September 2015) - Xu, Shuling
Abstract: A facile one‐pot route has been developed for the synthesis of carbon‐encapsulated Cu–Ag dimetallic nanoparticles (C–CuAg NPs). The synthesis was conducted using AgNO3 and Cu(NO3 )2 as metal precursors and ascorbic acid as the reduction agent and carbon source. The catalytic activities of the C–CuAg NPs for the reduction of 4‐nitrophenol (4‐NP) with NaBH4 were tracked by UV/Vis spectroscopy, which demonstrates that the as‐prepared C–CuAg NPs exhibit significantly enhanced catalytic activity compared with carbon‐encapsulated Cu nanoparticles (C–CuNPs) and carbon‐encapsulated Ag nanoparticles (C–Ag NPs). Notably, the catalysts are stable, and there is a high conversion efficiency for at least ten successive cycles. Considering the green facile preparation procedure and high catalytic activity, the prepared C–CuAg NPs hold great promise as highly efficient, cost‐effective, and environmentally friendly catalysts for industrial applications. Abstract : Carbon‐encapsulated Cu–Ag dimetallic nanoparticles (C–CuAg NPs) were prepared using a facile one‐pot route. The formation of C–CuAg NPs involved two steps: (1) the formation of the Cu–Ag alloy and (2) the in situ formation of the carbon layer at a low temperature (120 °C). The as‐prepared C–CuAg NPs exhibited high catalytic activity and perfect reusability towards the reduction of 4‐nitrophenol.