Polyol Synthesis of Ag/BN Nanohybrids and their Catalytic Stability in CO Oxidation Reaction
Anton S. Konopatsky, Denis V. Leybo, Konstantin L. Firestein, Ilya V. Chepkasov, Захар И. Попов, Elizaveta S. Permyakova, Ilia N. Volkov, Andrey M. Kovalskii, Andrei T. Matveev, Dmitry V. Shtansky, Dmitri Golberg
Abstract
Abstract Polyol method provides variety of options for microstructure control of a synthesized material. The present study aims to demonstrate that in case of Ag/ h ‐BN nanohybrid fabrication the synthesis time requires precise tuning. Nonlinear correlation between synthesis time and Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) formation and deposition is found and discussed. Catalytic stability of the studied system toward carbon monoxide oxidation is investigated for the first time. Two stages of catalytic activity decrease are found and associated with the sintering of AgNPs of the certain size. Correlations between Ag content, particle size distribution and temperature of complete CO conversion allow us to conclude that AgNPs, which size is below the critical value (3 nm), have a decisive role in Ag/BN nanohybrid catalytic performance. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations uncover the mechanism behind the increased catalytic activity of smaller AgNPs and highlight an importance of the Ag/BN interfacial regions.