Perylenetetracarboxylic acid–incorporated silver nanocluster for cost-effective visible-light-driven photocatalysis and catalytic reduction

• Published in: Colloid and polymer science 2021-06, Vol.299 (6), p.925-936
• Main Authors: Goswami, Tapas, Bheemaraju, Amarnath, Sharma, Amit Kumar, Bhandari, Sahil
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acceleration; Biocompatibility; Captopril; Catalysis; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemical reduction; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Complex Fluids and Microfluidics; Dispersion; Dyes; Energy dispersive X ray spectroscopy; Field effect transistors; Food Science; High resolution electron microscopy; Light emitting diodes; Light sources; Malachite green; Nanoclusters; Nanotechnology and Microengineering; Original Contribution; Photocatalysis; Physical Chemistry; Polymer Sciences; Reaction kinetics; Reducing agents; Semiconductor devices; Silver; Soft and Granular Matter; Spectrum analysis
• ISSN: 0303-402X; 1435-1536
• DOI: 10.1007/s00396-021-04813-w

Herein, we demonstrated photocatalytic applications of organic semiconductor (perylenetetracarboxylic acid (PTCA))–incorporated silver nanocluster in the degradation of a model dye (malachite green) using a low-cost and energy-efficient visible LED light source. The utility of this material in the catalytic reduction of MG dye in the presence of a reducing agent (i.e. NaBH 4 ) is also evaluated. This nanocluster was prepared using a facile one-pot methodology utilising biocompatible captopril and PTCA as protecting ligands. In this synthetic protocol, tetraoctylammonium bromide facilitates the cation induced aggregation process. It was characterised by UV-Vis, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) techniques. HRTEM and EDX spectroscopy confirms the average diameter of the nanocluster to be 2.9 ±1 nm and the presence of N, C, S, O and Ag as the main elements respectively. As revealed in photocatalysis, the model dye malachite green (MG) was degraded by ~80% in 52 min. The kinetics of catalytic reduction reaction of MG in the presence of a reducing agent sodium borohydride reveals an acceleration of the reduction of MG in the presence of as-prepared PTCA/AgNC compared to having no catalyst. Superior water solubility and stable colloidal dispersion of the as-prepared nanocluster allowed highly efficient catalysis in homogenous conditions. Furthermore, it can find a wide range of potential applications in catalysis, sensors and organic field-effect transistor. Graphical abstract