Silicon-grafted Ag/AgX/rGO nanomaterials (X = Cl or Br) as dip-photocatalysts for highly efficient p-nitrophenol reduction and paracetamol production

In this work, plasmonic Ag/AgX/rGO (X = Cl or Br) nano-photocatalysts were grafted with silicon by adding trimethylsilyl chloride as silicon precursor. The synthesized Ag/AgX/rGO-Si hybrids showed a large improvement of photocatalytic activity towards the synthesis of p-aminophenol (PAP) as well as paracetamol (acetaminophen; APAP) through the photoreduction of p-nitrophenol (PNP). The prepared catalysts Ag/AgX/rGO were characterized using SEM, XRD, FTIR and the reduction reaction of p-nitrophenol was monitored by UV-Vis measurements, GC/MS and (HNMR)-H-1 data. From the results, it was demonstrated that the rate order of reduction process of the PNP to PAP and to APAP under visible light irradiation of the samples was as follows; Ag/AgBr/rGO-Si > Ag/AgCl/rGO-Si > Ag/AgBr/rGO > Ag/AgCl/rGO. The reaction mechanism had been postulated that was supported with the spectroscopic data. In addition, the catalysts were recovered from the reaction medium and re-used in three cycles that indicated the reusability and stability of the catalysts. This study was featured by the following; i) fast reaction, ii) the reduction of p-nitrophenol to paracetamol was performed in a facile one-pot reaction compared to previous approaches that tends to reduce the production cost, and iii) investigations on the catalytic properties of Ag/AgX/rGO in organic transformations open the door to find a benefice of these catalysts in other organic reactions and in the development in the synthesis of pharmaceutical products.