A facile green synthesis of amino acid boosted Ag decorated reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites and its catalytic activity towards 4-nitrophenol reduction

Motivated from the enormous popularity of green chemistry over chemical processes, herein, a new reduction method has been coined for preparing reduced graphene oxide (rGO). L-Arginine (L-Arg) has been used as a green reducing agent as well as superior intercalating agent. The prepared reduced graphene oxide exhibited colloidal stability up to 3 weeks. The partial reduction has been monitored and supported by UV-visible spectra, Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectra and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopic (SERS) techniques. The morphological analysis by electron microscopic techniques also showed dislodged distinct nano-sheets of the prepared rGO. The conductivity has also been measured in the order of 0.01686 S cm−1 which is drastically improved than Hummer's graphite oxide. Besides this, in situ fabricated nano-silver decorated rGO can act as efficient catalyst against toxic para-nitrophenol (4-NP) reduction. Thus our prepared nanomaterial can be applicable for efficient low cost catalyst in future.