A new 2D layered aluminophosphate |Hada|6[Al6(PO4)8](H2O)11 supported highly uniform Ag nanoparticles for 4-nitrophenol reduction

• Published in: Inorganic chemistry frontiers 2022-01, Vol.9 (2), p.343-349
• Main Authors: Jiang-Zhen, Qiu, Long-Fei, Wang, Xu-Gang, Shu, Cui-Jin, Li, Yuan, Zhongke, Jiang, Jiuxing
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alkylation; Aluminum phosphate; Catalytic activity; Catalytic converters; Chemical reduction; Inorganic chemistry; Nanoparticles; Nitrophenol; Silver; Tetrahedra; Water chemistry
• ISSN: 2052-1545; 2052-1553
• DOI: 10.1039/d1qi00739d

Aluminophosphate with |Hada|6[Al6(PO4)8](H2O)11 (denoted as ZHKU-1) of a new two-dimensional (2D) layer has been synthesized by adopting the template of alkylated memantine. The structure of ZHKU-1 was constructed from the alternate connection of AlO4 and triply bridged PO4 tetrahedra ([O=PO3]3−) with a P/Al ratio of 4 : 3. The inorganic layers are linked and separated by protonated amine molecules and H2O molecules through extensive H-bonds to give a supervoid of 19.6 Å, containing an AAAA-stacked sequence along the b axis. The open framework of ZHKU-1 has been adapted for encapsulating silver nanoparticles through photodeposition, forming the catalyst Ag@ZHKU-1. The HRTEM images reveal the highly uniform Ag clusters with visually observed sizes of 1.9 nm. Moreover, Ag@ZHKU-1 has shown an efficient conversion of 99.3% within 75 s for the catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol. This remarkable catalytic activity of Ag@ZHKU-1 can be attributed to the large exposed surface and confinement effect of the 2D aluminophosphate of ZHKU-1.