Well-dispersed graphene-polydopamine-Pd hybrid with enhanced catalytic performance

Abstract

Inspired by the discovery of adhesive proteins in mussels, we prepared a graphene-polydopamine (GPDA) hybrid, in which the commonly used graphene oxide was replaced by graphene synthesized through physical routes. Then, the hybrid was decorated with ultrafine Pd nanoparticles to obtain a catalyst that was stable and well-dispersed in polar solvents. The Pd nanoparticles on graphene-polydopamine (GPDAP) were 2.0 nm on average and showed good monodispersibility on the polydopamine-modified graphene, whereas the Pd particles on unmodified graphene (GP) were larger than 4.5 nm and were obviously aggregated. The catalytic activity of the catalyst was investigated in the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), K₃[Fe(CN)₆], methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RhB), which are common industrial pollutants. A comparison between Pd/C (CP), GP and GPDA showed that the prepared catalyst, GPDAP, showed superior activity even when just a tiny amount of catalyst was added.