Hybrid films of reduced graphene oxide-noble metal nanoparticles

K Bramhaiah, Neena S John, RSC Adv. 2013, 3, 7765; K Bramhaiah, Vidya N Singh and Neena S John,
Part. Part. Syst. Charact. 2014, 31, 1168

Interfacing noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) with graphene can lead to new hybrid materials with improved functions. The liquid/liquid interface is exploited for generating ultra-thin, free-standing hybrid films of rGO with noble metal NPs including Ag, Au and Pd as well as anisotropic Au nanostructures. The films are transferable to any desired substrates. Formation of metal nanocrystal decorated rGO films at the interface of water and toluene involves in-situ reduction and self-assembly. The reduction reaction is initiated at a ‘bare’ interface in a single step process involving simultaneous reduction of rGO and metal ions or at a ‘modified’ interface involving sequential reduction. In the presence of surfactants, anisotropic shapes of noble metal nanocrystals with three dimensional branching can be obtained. The utility of these hybrid films as catalysts is demonstrated as a reusable catalyst for the transformation of p-nitrophenols into p-aminophenols.