Catalytic Activity of Silicon Nanowires Decorated with Gold and Copper Nanoparticles Deposited by Pulsed Laser Ablation.

Michele Casiello,Angelo Nacci,Nicola Cioffi,Sebastiano Trusso,Lucia D’Accolti,Rosaria Picca,Maria Lo Faro,Maria Sportelli,Pietro Cotugno,Caterina Fusco,Alessia Irrera,Antonio Leonardi

doi:10.3390/nano8020078

Abstract

Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) decorated by pulsed laser ablation with gold or copper nanoparticles (labeled as AuNPs@SiNWs and CuNPs@SiNWs) were investigated for their catalytic properties. Results demonstrated high catalytic performances in the Caryl–N couplings and subsequent carbonylations for gold and copper catalysts, respectively, that have no precedents in the literature. The excellent activity, attested by the very high turn over number (TON) values, was due both to the uniform coverage along the NW length and to the absence of the chemical shell surrounding the metal nanoparticles (MeNPs). A high recyclability was also observed and can be ascribed to the strong covalent interaction at the Me–Si interface by virtue of metal “silicides” formation.

Highlights

IntroductionSilicon nanowires (SiNWs) are attracting worldwide research interest due to their fascinating properties and application in a wide range of areas, such as electronics, photovoltaics, solar cells, diagnostics, molecular sensing, batteries, catalysis, and analytical chemistry [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
SiNWs are grown on 100 oriented crystalline p-type Si substrates by silver salts metal-assisted chemical etching
An oxygen-free surface is obtained processing the samples with 2 min of UV ozone cleaning and 5 min of chemical etching in a 5% hydrofluoric (HF) water solution

Summary

Introduction

Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) are attracting worldwide research interest due to their fascinating properties and application in a wide range of areas, such as electronics, photovoltaics, solar cells, diagnostics, molecular sensing, batteries, catalysis, and analytical chemistry [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. Several methods have been employed to fabricate SiNWs such as vapor-liquid-solid growth [8,9], chemical vapor deposition [10], laser ablation [11], thermal evaporation [12], metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) [13,14], etc. SiNWs are a promising host matrix for dispersing metal nanoparticles (MeNPs) due to their large surface area, mechanical stability, low cost, and easy preparation by industrially compatible methods [18]. The SiNW-dense forest structure offers a wide range of possibilities for further implementations.

Methods

Results

Conclusion