One-step preparation of magnetic recyclable quinary graphene hydrogels with high catalytic activity

Metal nanoparticles (NPs) displayed overwhelming superiority in catalysis towards the corresponding bulk-phase materials; nevertheless, how to further improve catalytic activity was still an ongoing subject. Herein, we have combined one-step redox reaction and following freeze-dried technology to construct the quinary reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (rGS)/Fe₂O₃-PdPt/polypyrrole (PPy) hydrogels. Compared with traditional catalysts, their catalytic property was improved via two ways: construction of three-dimensional (3D) rGS hydrogels instead of two-dimensional rGS and synthesis of bimetallic alloys instead of monometallic NPs. The highly dispersed PdPt with diameter as small as 3.2nm uniformly loaded on hydrogel surface. Due to special interconnected and porous structure, the reactants were easily adsorbed in hydrogels and contacted with PdPt alloys. To explain the contributions of bimetallic alloys and 3D rGS structure on enhanced catalytic activity, the catalytic property of quinary hydrogels was compared with reference samples. Besides superior activity, they also displayed good reusability, since hydrogels could be magnetically recycled owing to the existence of Fe₂O₃ NPs.