Green fabrication of 2D platinum superstructures and their high catalytic activity for mitigation of organic pollutants

Abstract

We report a simple eco-friendly green synthesis of self-assembled (SA) Pt nanoparticles, forming 2D sub-micrometric structures, from Coffea Arabica seed (CAS) extract. Small (˜2 nm) spherical Pt nanoparticles organized in the form of square/rectangular shaped 2D superstructures, have been utilized as efficient reusable catalysts for the reduction of industrial pollutants such as 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), methylene blue (MB) and their mixtures in aqueous medium (as well as in adsorbed state), with the activity parameters 0.75, 0.68 and 0.94 s−1 mg−1, respectively. The green process utilized for the fabrication of platinum superstructures in the present work could be extended for the fabrication of other metallic superstructures for efficient reusable catalytic reduction of organic contaminants.