Facile preparation of black phosphorus-based rGO-BP-Pd composite hydrogels with enhanced catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol performances for wastewater treatment

Abstract The functionalization and self-assembly of two-dimensional layered materials (such as graphene, black phosphorus) play an important role in the wide application of nanomaterials. In present study, the graphene oxide (GO) was reduced by adding l -ascorbic acid to obtain a reduced graphene oxide (rGO) hydrogel. rGO hydrogel can be considered as an ideal support due to its wrinkled structure and residual oxygen atoms in GO surface, which can effectively reduce the aggregation of palladium nanoparticles (Pd NPs). The effect of adding black phosphorus nanosheets (BPNS) to the rGO-Pd hydrogel on the catalytic performance was also studied. The results show that the rGO-BP-Pd composite hydrogels exhibit enhanced catalytic performance compared to the rGO-Pd hydrogel due to the strong interaction between Pd and the P atom of the BPNS. The current research provides new clues for the preparation of functionalized composite hydrogel and BP nanomaterials.