Synthesis of gold and palladium nanoparticles supported on CuO/rGO using imidazolium ionic liquid for CO oxidation

A simple ionic liquid-assisted approach for the fabrication of graphene-based nanocomposite is reported. Pd–CuO/rGO and Au–CuO/rGO nanocomposites are successfully fabricated with the assistance of the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium tetrafluoroborate. The physicochemical features of nanocomposite are systematically characterized by XRD, FT-IR, Raman spectroscopy, XPS, TGA, FESEM, AFM, and HRTEM. Carbon monoxide has been used as a probe molecule to emphasize the performance of the fabricated materials. The results indicate that the incorporation of a little quantity of ionic liquid results in the creation of uniformly dispersed NPs simultaneously with the reduction of graphene oxide (GO) into rGO, which leads to a low-temperature CO oxidation process. Besides, the Au–CuO/rGO catalyst achieved excellent durability in CO oxidation for 14 h, without detectable deactivation. The low-temperature CO oxidation was mainly induced by the synergistic effects between the components of catalysts. The Au or Pd and CuO combination not only generates more interfaces, which is more favorable for the activation of oxygen but also enhances the catalyst reduction behavior. Consequently, a graphene composite catalyst can be considered a potential CO oxidation candidate.