Boron Nitride Nanosheets Supported Cu2O Nanoparticles: Synthesis and Catalytic Reduction for 4-nitrophenol
Journal of Inorganic Materials
2019, 34 (8):
817-826.
DOI: 10.15541/jim20180487
Despite excellent catalytic capability, Cu2O nanomaterial exhibits weak stability which limits its application. In this study, a novel kind of Cu2O, Cu2O/BNNSs-OH, supported catalyst with highly catalytic efficiency and stability, was facilely fabricated via a controllable liquid phase reduction of ascorbic acid and combining with an annealing process. Cu2O/BNNSs-OH catalyst was synthesized by using boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs), prepared by the “push-pull” effect of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and water phase change, as a supporter and spherical Cu2O nanoparticles (2-7 nm) prepared by forward titration (ascorbic acid→Cu 2+, solution with a pH 11) as active components. Morphology and structure of as-obtained samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electronic microscopy (HRTEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and Raman spectroscopy. The results of the synthetic method showed that spherical Cu2O nanoparticles were uniformly dispersed on the carrier surface and BNNSs displayed some stabilization effect on Cu2O which could be prevented from being oxidized into CuO. Moreover, the catalytic activity was investigated by catalytic reduction reaction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol. Cu2O/BNNSs-OH with high catalytic activity similar to the noble metal catalyst for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol is highly reusable for five successive cycles without significant degradation and activity loss. ![]()
Fig. 4
XRD patterns (a) and Raman spectra (b) of h-BN and BNNSs
Extracts from the Article
图4(a)为剥离前后氮化硼的XRD图谱, 图中衍射峰(002)、(100)、(102)、(004)和(110)与标准卡片(JCPDS 34-0421)相对应, 说明BNNSs最大程度保留了h-BN原始的晶格结构。另外, BNNSs的(002)特征峰强度降低为原始h-BN的50%, I(100)/I (004)数值由2.2降为1.0, 以上数据的变化均说明剥离后的BNNSs层数减少[23]。Raman图谱表明, 由于BNNSs比块状h-BN的纳米片更薄, 更容易引起官能团 振动, BNNSs相对于h-BN发生蓝移, 特征峰强度 降低。
载体也是影响催化活性的一个重要因素。氮化硼纳米片中B、N的pz轨道与铜的dz2轨道重叠, 增强BNNSs与Cu2O NPs表面结合能力, 但功能化氮化硼纳米片表面的-OH同样有利于Cu2O NPs的固定。相对BNNSs而言, BNNSs-OH拥有更多的活性位点, 可作为Cu2O NPs的理想载体材料。由Cu2O/ BNNSs-OH的FT-IR图谱(图5(c))看出, 除了出现BNNSs-OH特征峰外, 在631 cm-1处有强烈的Cu-O振动, 且3400 cm-1处羟基吸收峰强度明显减弱, 表明载体表面及边缘的羟基能够充当Cu2O NPs与载体接触的活性位点。由UV-Vis光谱变化情况看出, 未功能化的氮化硼纳米片为载体(图9(e))时, 催化活性远不如BNNSs-OH。图9(f)为不同类型催化剂还原4-NP速率图, 结果表明, 单独的NaBH4和载体都不能还原4-NP, 进一步证明Cu2O/BNNSs-OH还原速率明显高于其他类型催化剂。
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