Formation of Silver Rhombic Dodecahedra, Octahedra, and Cubes through Pseudomorphic Conversion of Ag₂O Crystals with Nitroarene Reduction Activity

Citations Over TimeTop 22% of 2019 papers

Abstract

Using ethanol as a co-solvent, relatively small-sized Ag₂O octahedra (∼645 nm in opposite corner distance) and rhombic dodecahedra (∼540 and 655 nm in opposite face distance) were synthesized in aqueous solutions. Ag₂O cubes synthesized in an aqueous solution have an edge length of ∼425 nm. Band gaps of these crystals have been obtained, revealing the presence of facet-dependent light absorption properties. The Ag₂O rhombic dodecahedra, octahedra, and cubes were treated with ammonia borane in ethanol at 50 °C for just 10 min to pseudomorphically convert to Ag polyhedra of the corresponding morphologies. Transmission electron microscopy characterization confirms that the Ag cubes, octahedra, and rhombic dodecahedra are bound by the {100}, {111}, and {110} faces, respectively. The Ag rhombic dodecahedra, available for the first time, showed more superior catalytic activity toward 4-nitroaniline reduction at 50 °C than Ag octahedra and cubes, and gave 100% product yield after 1 h of reaction. This work demonstrates the value of forming Ag rhombic dodecahedra, exposing {110} surfaces that may be useful in other organic transformations.

Related Papers

• → Theoretical studies of CH4(H2O)20, (H2O)21, (H2O)20, and fused dodecahedral and tetrakaidecahedral structures: How do natural gas hydrates form?(1999)62 cited
• → Pseudo-mono-axial ligand fields that support high energy barriers in triangular dodecahedral Dy(iii) single-ion magnets(2022)31 cited
• → Eigensolutions of dodecahedron graphs(2014)11 cited
• → Density functional studies of fused dodecahedral and irregular-dodecahedral water cages(2015)5 cited
• → Vanadate Garnet, Ca₂NaMg₂V₃O₁₂.(2004)