Unraveling the cooperative synergy of zero-dimensional graphene quantum dots and metal nanocrystals enabled by layer-by-layer assembly

Recent years have witnessed a cornucopia of synthetic methods for fabricating carbon–metal nanocomposites. Nonetheless, achieving a cooperative synergy of zero-dimensional carbon nanomaterials and metal nanocrystals is still uncommon. To this end, we performed a controllable structural design compri...

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Main Authors: Zeng, Zhiping, Xiao, Fang-Xing, Phan, Hung, Chen, Shufen, Yu, Zhongzheng, Wang, Rong, Nguyen, Thuc-Quyen, Tan, Timothy Thatt Yang
Other Authors: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2020
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/140878
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1408782020-06-02T09:30:43Z Unraveling the cooperative synergy of zero-dimensional graphene quantum dots and metal nanocrystals enabled by layer-by-layer assembly Zeng, Zhiping Xiao, Fang-Xing Phan, Hung Chen, Shufen Yu, Zhongzheng Wang, Rong Nguyen, Thuc-Quyen Tan, Timothy Thatt Yang School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Interdisciplinary Graduate School (IGS) Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute Singapore Membrane Technology Centre Engineering::Chemical engineering Zero-dimensional Graphene Quantum Dots Metal Nanocrystals Recent years have witnessed a cornucopia of synthetic methods for fabricating carbon–metal nanocomposites. Nonetheless, achieving a cooperative synergy of zero-dimensional carbon nanomaterials and metal nanocrystals is still uncommon. To this end, we performed a controllable structural design comprising customizable alternating layers of active and functional zero-dimensional nanomaterials, which were intimately assembled together. This unique highly-ordered multilayer configuration was afforded by a judicious layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly strategy, enabling the rational and tunable construction of a series of well-defined metal/graphene quantum dots (M/GQDs)n (M = Au, Ag, Pt) multilayers. This strategy allows the direct assembly of customized units of positively-charged graphene quantum dots (GQDs) and negatively-charged metal nanocrystals (NCs), which were integrated in an alternating stacked fashion under a pronounced electrostatic attractive interaction. Moreover, these multilayer thin films demonstrate remarkably efficient and versatile catalytic performance toward the selective organic transformation of aromatic nitro compounds, electrocatalytic methanol oxidation and photoelectrochemical water splitting under simulated solar light irradiation under ambient conditions, attributed to the cooperative synergy of the metal NC and GQD building blocks. More significantly, the catalytic performances of the (M/GQDs)n (M = Au, Ag, Pt) multilayer thin films are tunable via the assembly cycle and sequence, as well as by selecting different metal NC types. This work highlights the significance of the customizable design of GQDs–metal-based systems for various advanced chemical-to-energy conversion applications. 2020-06-02T09:30:43Z 2020-06-02T09:30:43Z 2017 Journal Article Zeng, Z., Xiao, F.-X., Phan, H., Chen, S., Yu, Z., Wang, R., . . . Tan, T. T. Y. (2018). Unraveling the cooperative synergy of zero-dimensional graphene quantum dots and metal nanocrystals enabled by layer-by-layer assembly. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 6(4), 1700-1713. doi:10.1039/c7ta09119b 2050-7488 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/140878 10.1039/c7ta09119b 2-s2.0-85041106165 4 6 1700 1713 en Journal of Materials Chemistry A © 2018 The Royal Society of Chemistry. All rights reserved.
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
country Singapore
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Engineering::Chemical engineering
Zero-dimensional Graphene Quantum Dots
Metal Nanocrystals
spellingShingle Engineering::Chemical engineering
Zero-dimensional Graphene Quantum Dots
Metal Nanocrystals
Zeng, Zhiping
Xiao, Fang-Xing
Phan, Hung
Chen, Shufen
Yu, Zhongzheng
Wang, Rong
Nguyen, Thuc-Quyen
Tan, Timothy Thatt Yang
Unraveling the cooperative synergy of zero-dimensional graphene quantum dots and metal nanocrystals enabled by layer-by-layer assembly
description Recent years have witnessed a cornucopia of synthetic methods for fabricating carbon–metal nanocomposites. Nonetheless, achieving a cooperative synergy of zero-dimensional carbon nanomaterials and metal nanocrystals is still uncommon. To this end, we performed a controllable structural design comprising customizable alternating layers of active and functional zero-dimensional nanomaterials, which were intimately assembled together. This unique highly-ordered multilayer configuration was afforded by a judicious layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly strategy, enabling the rational and tunable construction of a series of well-defined metal/graphene quantum dots (M/GQDs)n (M = Au, Ag, Pt) multilayers. This strategy allows the direct assembly of customized units of positively-charged graphene quantum dots (GQDs) and negatively-charged metal nanocrystals (NCs), which were integrated in an alternating stacked fashion under a pronounced electrostatic attractive interaction. Moreover, these multilayer thin films demonstrate remarkably efficient and versatile catalytic performance toward the selective organic transformation of aromatic nitro compounds, electrocatalytic methanol oxidation and photoelectrochemical water splitting under simulated solar light irradiation under ambient conditions, attributed to the cooperative synergy of the metal NC and GQD building blocks. More significantly, the catalytic performances of the (M/GQDs)n (M = Au, Ag, Pt) multilayer thin films are tunable via the assembly cycle and sequence, as well as by selecting different metal NC types. This work highlights the significance of the customizable design of GQDs–metal-based systems for various advanced chemical-to-energy conversion applications.
author2 School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
author_facet School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
Zeng, Zhiping
Xiao, Fang-Xing
Phan, Hung
Chen, Shufen
Yu, Zhongzheng
Wang, Rong
Nguyen, Thuc-Quyen
Tan, Timothy Thatt Yang
format Article
author Zeng, Zhiping
Xiao, Fang-Xing
Phan, Hung
Chen, Shufen
Yu, Zhongzheng
Wang, Rong
Nguyen, Thuc-Quyen
Tan, Timothy Thatt Yang
author_sort Zeng, Zhiping
title Unraveling the cooperative synergy of zero-dimensional graphene quantum dots and metal nanocrystals enabled by layer-by-layer assembly
title_short Unraveling the cooperative synergy of zero-dimensional graphene quantum dots and metal nanocrystals enabled by layer-by-layer assembly
title_full Unraveling the cooperative synergy of zero-dimensional graphene quantum dots and metal nanocrystals enabled by layer-by-layer assembly
title_fullStr Unraveling the cooperative synergy of zero-dimensional graphene quantum dots and metal nanocrystals enabled by layer-by-layer assembly
title_full_unstemmed Unraveling the cooperative synergy of zero-dimensional graphene quantum dots and metal nanocrystals enabled by layer-by-layer assembly
title_sort unraveling the cooperative synergy of zero-dimensional graphene quantum dots and metal nanocrystals enabled by layer-by-layer assembly
publishDate 2020
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/140878
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