Nanostructured transition metal phosphides gathered
last years an elevated scientific interest, due to their unique
physical-chemical properties. Nickel phosphide nanoparticles, with the
controllable crystal structure, from the metal rich tetragonal Ni<sub>12</sub>P<sub>5</sub>
to the phosphorous rich hexagonal Ni<sub>2</sub>P, and <i>hcp</i> Ni<sub>2</sub>P decorated r-GO (reduced graphene oxide), nano-hybrid
materials have been synthesized via a novel one step organometallic approach in
primary-tertiary aliphatic amines mixture. The nanoparticles are monodispersed,
with spherical shape and controllable size in the sub-10 nm regime and decorate
uniformly the surface of the r-GO, leading to the formation of Ni<sub>2</sub>P/r-GO
hybrid materials. The materials were characterized by powder XRD, TEM and Raman
spectroscopy and catalytically evaluated for the dibenzothiophene
hydrodesulphurization (HDS) reaction.
The results show that the role of the tertiary amine is crucial for the
phosphidation process and the r-GO is an ideal alternative, to the traditional inorganic
ones, support for the immobilization of the catalytically active component,
preventing significantly sintering effects.
Ultra-Fine Ni2P Nanoparticles Decorated R-GO: Novel Phosphidation Approach and Dibenzothiophene Hydrodesulfurization
