Phase transferring of silver nanoparticles to organic solvents using modified graphene oxide as carrier

Abstract

An innovative phase transferring process of anisotropic silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from aqueous to a wide range of organic solvents (e.g. toluene, n-butanol, iso-butyl acetate, ethyl-acetate, acetonitrile and ethylene glycol) was described. In the developed process, AgNPs were transferred to the organic solvents by using graphene oxide (GO) as a carrier. The transferring process was utilized by only two straightforward steps. Firstly, the composite of graphene oxide-silver nanoparticles (GO/AgNPs) were synthesized using N,N′ dimethylformamide (DMF) as a reducing agent. The existence, purity and stability of AgNPs on the GO sheets were examined by UV–visible spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, XRD, and TEM. Secondly, the composite GO/AgNP were modified with oleylamine (OAm) in order to improve hydrophobicity. To reach the maximum phase transfer efficiency, an appropriate amount of OAm was carefully optimized. The dispersion behaviors of the composite GO/AgNP modified with OAm (GO/AgNP-OAm) in the organic solvents were investigated. It was found that the GO/AgNP-OAm are uniformly dispersed in the organic solvents for at least 18 h after sonication. The developed phase transfer method has the features of simplicity and high efficiency, moreover, it suitable to be scaled up for the industrial application.