MoS2 - induced hollow Cu2O spheres: Synthesis and efficient catalytic performance in the reduction of 4-nitrophenol by NaBH4

In this study, flower-like MoS2 prepared using hydrothermal method has been designed to hybrid with Cu2O using Cu(NO3)(2)center dot 3H(2)O as copper salt and salicylaldehyde as reducing agent. The as-prepared composite has been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectrometer, Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), N-2 adsorption/desorption, Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) as well as density functional theory (DFT), etc. techniques. The results imply that the parent MoS2 synthesized in the first step has been transformed into amorphous state in the following solvothermal process. Therefore, the as prepared composite is denoted as Cu2O/MoSx and used for testing its catalytic performance in the reduction of 4-NP by NaBH4. As expected, the as-prepared Cu2O/MoSx composite has absolute superiority in catalyzing the reduction of 4-NP by NaBH4 compared with the patent MoS2 and Cu2O, demonstrating the remarkable synergistic effect between MoSx and Cu2O. Possible relationship between the structure and properties of the as prepared Cu2O/MoSx composite in the reduction of 4-NP by NaBH4 has been discussed in this study.

Automated summary

Flower-like MoS2 prepared using hydrothermal method was hybridized with Cu2O to form a Cu2O/MoSx composite, which exhibited remarkable synergistic effect and absolute superiority in catalyzing the reduction of 4-NP.