Facile synthesis of novel fibrous silica@apatite@Au composites with superior photo-catalytic activity

Publication date: 5 June 2018
Source:Materials & Design, Volume 147
Author(s): Song Chen, Tianlong Wang, Yunhong Yao, Aili Wei
Novel fibrous silica@apatite@Au composites with superior photo-catalytic activity were facilely synthesized through combination of electrospinning technique, bio-mineralization, and in situ immobilization. Silica nanofibers with the diameter of 486±60nm were synthesized through electrospinning of the sol-gel mixture of gelatin, tetraethoxysilane, acetic acid, water, and calcium chloride followed by sintering process. After bio-mineralization in the Kokubo's simulated body fluid, silica nanofibers supported in situ deposition of fibrous apatite nanosheet flowers to produce fibrous silica@apatite composites. SEM observations showed that the silica@apatite composites had the fibrous feature with the diameter of 2498±608nm and their surface was very rough and constructed by numerous apatite nanosheets with the thickness around 10nm. XRD patterns showed that the fibrous silica@apatite composites presented the characteristic diffraction peaks at 26° and 32° assigned to apatite components. FT-IR spectra revealed that silica@apatite composites contained both SiOSi bonds and POP groups. After immersion in the suspension of Au nanoparticles, the silica@apatite composites supported the in situ immobilization of Au nanoparticles to produce silica@apatite@Au composites. When incubated in the aqueous mixture of 4-nitrophenol and NaHB4, the fibrous silica@apatite@Au composites presented a superior photo-catalytic activity and rapidly catalyzed the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol.

Graphical abstract

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