Ethanolamine-Induced Synthesis of Sesame Cake-like Cu/Ag Nanosheets with High Activity for the Reduction of p-Nitrophenol to p-Aminophenol

Precise control of the morphologyof nanocrystals isvital in variousfields, especially for the conductive materials and catalysts. Inthis work, ethanolamine (ETA)-induced synthesis of sesame cake-likeCu/Ag core-shell nanosheets (Cu/AgNSs) has been reported forthe first time. It is found that the ETA molecules may play a "clip-on"role in the formation of sesame cake-like Cu/AgNSs. In the system,the lone-pair electrons of oxygen and nitrogen in ETA can not onlybind to the vacant orbital of Cu element, thus promoting ETA to preferentiallyadsorb on the surface of copper nanosheets (CuNSs), but also makeAg(+) ions tend to form silver-amine complexes, eventuallyresulting in the gentle reduction of Ag+ ions on the surfaceof CuNSs and the final formation of Ag shell layer. Moreover, theprepared sesame cake-like Cu/AgNSs exhibited excellent catalytic activity(turnover frequency, TOF = 12.05 min(-1)) in the reductionof p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol when compared with the most reportedsilver-based catalysts.