Construction of Ag/3D-reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite with advanced catalytic capacity for 4-nitrophenol and methylene blue

The Ag nanoparticles decorated three dimentional (3D) reduced graphene oxide (Ag/3D-rGO) nanocomposite was prepared by a one-pot green hydrothermal method in the absence of any extra additive. It was found that the formation of Ag/3D-rGO cylinder depend on the GO dispersion concentration strongly. The obtained 3D Ag/rGO nanocomposite was of superior catalytic performance for the catalytic reduction of 4-nitropenol and catalytic degradation of methyl-blue at room temperature. The corresponding catalytic kinetics constants are 1.18577 min-1 for 4-nitrophenol and 0.83581 min-1 for methylene blue due to the naked surface of Ag nanoparticles and the charge transfer effect between anchored Ag nanoparticles and 3D-rGO. Both of the above kinetics constants are much higher than the reported counterparts. The outstanding catalytic performance along with the favorable kinetics parameters make the 3D Ag/rGO nanocomposite to be a promising heterogeneous catalyst in environmental protection and chemical engineering industry.