Silicon‐grafted Ag/AgX/rGO nanomaterials (X = Cl or Br) as dip‐photocatalysts for highly efficient p‐nitrophenol reduction and paracetamol production

Abstract

In this work, plasmonic Ag/AgX/rGO (X = Cl or Br) nano‐photocatalysts were grafted with silicon by adding trimethylsilyl chloride as silicon precursor. The synthesized Ag/AgX/rGO‐Si hybrids showed a large improvement of photocatalytic activity towards the synthesis of p‐aminophenol (PAP) as well as paracetamol (acetaminophen; APAP) through the photoreduction of p‐nitrophenol (PNP). The prepared catalysts Ag/AgX/rGO were characterized using SEM, XRD, FTIR and the reduction reaction of p‐nitrophenol was monitored by UV–Vis measurements, GC/MS and 1HNMR data. From the results, it was demonstrated that the rate order of reduction process of the PNP to PAP and to APAP under visible light irradiation of the samples was as follows; Ag/AgBr/rGO‐Si > Ag/AgCl/rGO‐Si > Ag/AgBr/rGO > Ag/AgCl/rGO. The reaction mechanism had been postulated that was supported with the spectroscopic data. In addition, the catalysts were recovered from the reaction medium and re‐used in three cycles that indicated the reusability and stability of the catalysts. This study was featured by the following; i) fast reaction, ii) the reduction of p‐nitrophenol to paracetamol was performed in a facile one‐pot reaction compared to previous approaches that tends to reduce the production cost, and iii) investigations on the catalytic properties of Ag/AgX/rGO in organic transformations open the door to find a benefice of these catalysts in other organic reactions and in the development in the synthesis of pharmaceutical products.

Influence of Synthesis Approach on Controlled Microstructures and Photocatalytic Properties of Ag/AgBr-Activated Carbon Composites on Visible Light Degradation of Tetracycline

“…In addition, the aliphatic bands of the capped surfactants (PVP and HTAB) at 2912 and 2842 cm −1 appear with high and low intensity for TP-AAABR-ACK and DP-AABR-ACK [31,42]. The high intensity of aliphatic bands in TP-AAABR-ACK highlights the formation of ordered nanospheres AABR [43] with small particle diameter (as evidenced from SEM and TEM analysis in Figures 2b and 4a). Overall, reduction in the rapid growth of AABR particles, agglomeration prevention, and decrease in particle size distribution is evident for the active TP-AABR-ACK composite based on FTIR analysis (Figure 5).…”

Hybrid Phase MoS2 as a Noble Metal-Free Photocatalyst for Conversion of Nitroaromatics to Aminoaromatics

“…To further investigate different activities and active sites between 1T/2H-MoS 2 and 2H-MoS 2 , a series of electrochemical measurements were carried out. According to previous researches, the total reaction route to this series of reactions is considered as shown in Scheme . ,,− …”

Construction of Hybrid MoS2 Phase Coupled with SiC Heterojunctions with Promoted Photocatalytic Activity for 4-Nitrophenol Degradation

“…The reaction route is shown in Figure S3 by considering the former research. ,,, The reaction mechanism was further researched by CV and scavenging experiments. According to the CV curves in Figure a, MoS 2 acts as the main active site for the reactions shown in Figure S3­(2),(3), and the 1T/2H-MoS 2 exhibits higher activity than the 2H-MoS 2 , while original SiC has no activity in this reaction.…”