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Sonochemical synthesis and application of rhodium–graphene nanocomposite

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Abstract

Highly water dispersible rhodium–graphene nanocomposite have been successfully synthesized by the simple reduction of Rh3+ salt on poly(ethylene oxide)/poly(propylene oxide)/poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO/PPO/PEO) triblock copolymer or pluronic-stabilized graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets with borohydride. Rhodium nanoparticles, having average size of 1–3 nm, are homogeneously distributed through out the graphene sheets. Some porous structures of graphene sheets have also been observed after the reduction of pluronic-stabilized GO in the presence of metal ions. The material is very effective for hydrogenation of arenes, especially for benzene as the substrate material at the room temperature and 5 atm pressure of hydrogen.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Technology Information and Forecasting Assessment Council (TIFAC) and the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India for funding, and the Authority of Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur for providing operational facilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nanomaterials Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, 721302, India

    Sourov Chandra, Sourav Bag & Panchanan Pramanik

  2. Department of Instrumentation Science, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, 700 032, India

    Radhaballav Bhar

Authors
  1. Sourov Chandra
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  2. Sourav Bag
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  3. Radhaballav Bhar
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  4. Panchanan Pramanik
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Correspondence to Panchanan Pramanik.

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Fig. S1 GC-MS spectrum of the hydrogenated product of benzene, in which n-heptane used as the solvent (TIF 1.78 mb)

11051_2010_164_MOESM2_ESM.tif

Fig. S2 GC-MS pattern of cyclohexane, after analysis the above GC-MS peak at the retention time 2.4 minute. No such type of peak was observed for benzene itself, which confirmed that 100% conversion of the substrate was done (TIF 1.98 mb)

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Chandra, S., Bag, S., Bhar, R. et al. Sonochemical synthesis and application of rhodium–graphene nanocomposite. J Nanopart Res 13, 2769–2777 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-010-0164-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-010-0164-3

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