Superior-catalytic performance of Ni-Co Layered double hydroxide nanosheets for the reduction of p-nitrophenol

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that Ni-Co layered double hydroxide nanosheets exhibit superior catalytic performance in reducing p-nitrophenol and also serve as effective electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution, owing to their unique 2D structure and synergistic metal effects.

Contribution

A cost-effective co-precipitation method to synthesize Ni-Co LDH nanosheets with enhanced catalytic activity for pollutant reduction and hydrogen evolution.

Findings

Ni-Co LDH nanosheets efficiently reduce p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol.

The Ni-Co LDH shows high catalytic activity at elevated temperatures.

Ni-Co LDH is effective as an electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution.

Abstract

Layered double-hydroxides (LDHs) are superior to the conventional (Transition Metal Oxides) TMOs as their lamellar morphology accommodates higher active sites contributing to the facile electron transfer towards the material degradation relations, thus attracts an immense attention for catalysis application. Moreover, the high catalytic activity of LDHs is linked to their facile anion exchange, specific electronic structures, and versatile chemical compositions. Recently, LDHs with bimetallic or ternary combinations are preferably used for hydrogenation of p-nitrophenol, a toxic and carcinogenic pollutant commonly found in industrial wastewater. Herein, a cost-effective co-precipitation fabrication protocol to obtain Ni-Co layered double hydroxide is proposed. The well-defined arrangement of active sites in the 2D structure of LDH, and the synergistic catalytic effect of Ni and Co greatly improves the efficiency for the conversion of p-nitrophenol (p-NP) to p-aminophenol (p-AMP). The catalytic performance at higher temperatures is also shown. The obtained results are further extended to explore the advantage of Ni-Co LDH as an electrocatalyst for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER).