In Situ Green Generation of Palladium Nanoparticles on Reduced Graphene Oxide and Its Catalytic Activity for Suzuki Coupling Reactions

Abstract—A novel in-situ route was developed to load palladium nanoparticles on the graphene oxide in this paper. Palladium ions was immobilized on graphene oxide by cation exchange, then the palladium nanoparticles supported on reduced graphene oxide (Pd NPs-rGO) was prepared via the Suzuki coupling reaction to in situ formed Pd NPs without applying additional reductants, the approach is considerably more convenient and environmentally benign compared to conventional methods for the preparation of supported metal nanoparticles. To explaining the structure and morphology, the Pd NPs-rGO nanocatalyst was characterized by FT-IR, XPS, TEM, and ICP-AES measurements. The outcomes indicate that the Pd⁰ and Pd²⁺ are spread on the surface of rGO, and their ratio would affect the catalytic activity. Pd NPs-rGO has excellent catalytic performance in Suzuki coupling reaction with high yields and it could be recovered by centrifugation. Moreover, the catalyst can be recycled seven times without significant loss of activity.