Anchoring of Ag-Au alloy nanoparticles on reduced graphene oxide sheets for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol

One-step gamma radiation assisted method has been used for the synthesis of Silver-Gold (Ag-Au) alloy nanoparticles with simultaneous reduction of graphene oxide (GO). UV-vis spectroscopic results along with X-ray diffraction analysis, X-ray Photoelectron spectroscopy and Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the decoration face centered cubic structured Ag-Au nanoparticles of size (5-19) nm on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets. The increase in disorder parameter in Raman spectroscopy indicates the formation of more number of small sp(2) domains. The synthesized Ag-Au-rGO nanocomposite showed enhanced catalytic activity towards the reduction of 4-Nitrophenol compared to individual Ag-Au and rGO components. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.