Identifying efficient natural bioreductants for the preparation of graphene and graphene-metal nanoparticle hybrids with enhanced catalytic activity from graphite oxide

The implementation of green approaches towards the preparation of graphene and graphene-based materials with enhanced functionality from graphite oxide has been relatively little explored. Particularly, the use of bioreductants and the testing of their relative efficacies is an incipient area of research. Here, a pool of 20 environmentally friendly, natural antioxidants have been tested for their ability to reduce graphene oxide. These antioxidants were mostly vitamins, amino acids and organic acids. By establishing a protocol to systematically compare and optimize their performance, several new efficient bioreductants of graphene oxide have been identified, namely, pyridoxine and pyridoxamine (vitamin B₆), riboflavin (vitamin B₂), as well as the amino acids arginine, histidine and tryptophan. These biomolecules were used to prepare reduced graphene oxide-silver nanoparticle hybrids that displayed colloidal stability in water in the absence of additional dispersants. Particularly, hybrids prepared with pyridoxamine exhibited a combination of long-term colloidal stability and exceptionally high catalytic activity among silver nanoparticle-based catalysts in the reduction of p-nitrophenol with NaBH₄. Thus, in addition to expanding substantially the number of green reductants available for graphene oxide reduction, the present results underline the idea that proper selection of bioreductant can be relevant to achieve graphene-based materials with improved performance.