kong-silvermetal-2017.pdf (1.44 MB)
Silver metal nano-matrixes as high efficiency and versatile catalytic reactors for environmental remediation
journal contribution
posted on 2017-03-01, 00:00 authored by Ludovic Dumee, Zhifeng YiZhifeng Yi, B Tardy, Andrea Merenda, Elise Des Ligneris, R R Dagastine, Lingxue KongLingxue KongNano-porous metallic matrixes (NMMs) offer superior surface to volume ratios as well as enhanced optical, photonic, and electronic properties to bulk metallic materials. Such behaviours are correlated to the nano-scale inter-grain metal domains that favour the presence of electronic vacancies. In this work, continuous 3D NMMs were synthesized for the first time through a simple diffusion-reduction process whereby the aerogel matrix was functionalized with (3-Mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane. The surface energy of the silica monolith templates was tuned to improve the homogeneity of the reduction process while thiol functionalization facilitated the formation of a high density of seeding points for metal ions to reduce. The diameter of NMMs was between 2 and 1000 nm, corresponding to a silver loading between 1.23 and 41.16 at.%. A rates of catalytic degradation kinetics of these NMMS which is three orders of magnitude higher than those of the non-functionalized silver-silica structures. Furthermore, the enhancement in mechanical stability at nanoscale which was evaluated by Atomic Force Microscopy force measurements, electronic density and chemical inertness was assessed and critically correlated to their catalytic potential. This strategy opens up new avenues for design of complex architectures of either single or multi-metal alloy NMMs with enhanced surface properties for various applications.
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Journal
Scientific reportsVolume
7Article number
45112Pagination
1 - 10Publisher
Nature Publishing GroupLocation
London, Eng.Publisher DOI
eISSN
2045-2322Language
engPublication classification
C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2017, The AuthorsUsage metrics
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