PVP-assisted laser ablation growth of Ag nanocubes anchored on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) for efficient photocatalytic CO2 reduction

Abstract

Metallic nanoparticles loaded graphene nanocomposites have been widely studied for various scientific and technological applications. In this study, a facile method was reported to realize a straightforward growth of shape and size-controllable of metallic nanoparticles, and the subsequent hybridization with graphene in solution by strategically coupling wet-chemical route and laser ablation. By mixing graphene oxide (GO) with a tunable concentration level of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in aqueous solution, Ag nanocubes with a face-centered cubic crystal structure were generated by pulsed laser ablation and then mounted on GO nanosheets with the assistance of PVP. The preferential adsorption of PVP to Ag (100) crystal face led to the production of Ag nanocubes with exposed (100) facet. The result showed that the morphological yield of spherical particles decreased with the increase in PVP concentration. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV–visible spectroscopy analyses confirmed that GO was partially reduced. In the reduction of CO2 gas, the photocatalytic conversion rate could achieve 133.1 μmol g−1 h−1 in 6 hrs for cubic Ag-loaded reduced GO composites.