title: Preparation of carbon microspheres decorated with silver nanoparticles and their ability to remove dyes from aqueous solution.
abstract: Solid, but not hollow or porous, carbon microspheres decorated with silver nanoparticles (AgNP-CMSs) were prepared from silver nitrate and CMSs by a redox reaction at room temperature. The CMSs and AgNP-CMSs were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and UV-vis spectrophotometry. Though with non-high specific surface area, the AgNP-CMSs exhibited a high adsorption capacity toward methylene blue (MB) in an aqueous solution. The AgNP-CMSs were able to remove all the MB from a solution of 30 mg/L MB in water within 1 min when the adsorbent concentration was 0.12 g/L. The AgNP-CMSs also exhibited good adsorption and photocatalytic activity in the decomposition of aqueous Rhodamine B as well as MB under visible light. FTIR was used to examine the interaction between AgNP-CMSs and MB, and the spectrum and more extra experiments suggest ionic interactions between cationic dyes and the negatively charged groups can be formed but not the presence of abundant π-π conjugations between dye molecules and the aromatic rings. The origin of the photocatalytic activity of AgNP-CMSs was attributed to a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of the silver nanoparticles on the CMSs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment, Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, PR China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, PR China.
authors.forename: Qingchun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment, Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, PR China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, PR China. Electronic address: qswu@tongji.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Qingsheng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D008751:Methylene Blue / Q000737:chemistry; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008863:Microspheres; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D008751:Methylene Blue; D012834:Silver; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Adsorption; Carbon microspheres; SPR; Silver nanoparticles; Visible-light photocatalysis