Design and Characterization of Ag@Cu₂O-rGO Nanocomposite for the p-Nitrophenol Reduction

In this paper, we designed Ag nanoparticles coated with a Cu₂O shell, which was successfully decorated on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) via a solid-state self-reduction. The Cu₂O, Ag@Cu₂O, and Ag@Cu₂O-rGO nanocomposites were synthesized and characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV–Vis, and XPS to evaluate the properties of the composites. In order to compare the chemical catalytic activity, the Cu₂O, Ag@Cu₂O, and Ag@Cu₂O-rGO nanocomposites were employed for the catalytic reduction of p-nitrophenol (4-NP) into p-aminophenol (4-AP) in aqueous solution. The Ag@Cu₂O-rGO nanocomposite exhibited excellent catalytic activity due to the intense interaction and high degree of electron transfer among Ag, Cu₂O, and rGO. The rGO acted as the platform to bridge the isolated nanoparticles; furthermore, the electrons could quickly transfer from the Ag core to the Cu₂O shell, which improved the chemical catalytic efficiency.