Issue 48, 2017, Issue in Progress

Hydrogenation/oxidation induced efficient reversible color switching between methylene blue and leuco-methylene blue

Abstract

In this paper, we present the use of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) supported palladium nanoparticles (Pd/g-C3N4) for reversible color switching of methylene blue (MB). g-C3N4 with a high polymeric degree could improve the dispersity of Pd nanoparticles, contributing to fast color switching of MB as the agglomeration of metal nanoparticles is significantly prevented. Moreover, strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) between Pd nanoparticles and g-C3N4 support promotes the adsorption and subsequent dissociation of molecular hydrogen and oxygen, thus leading to efficient reversible conversion between MB and leuco-methylene blue (LMB). Our obtained Pd/g-C3N4 nanocatalyst exhibits outstanding hydrogenation activity of blue MB to colorless LMB with a turnover frequency as high as 165 h−1 at room temperature, moreover, colorless LMB can quickly switch back to MB upon exposing the same reaction system to oxygen for oxidation. It is noted that our color switching system exhibits remarkable reversibility and stability without obvious fatigue even after 10 consecutive cycles. This novel redox-driven reversible color switching system could find potential in food packaging, sensing and organic transformations.

Graphical abstract: Hydrogenation/oxidation induced efficient reversible color switching between methylene blue and leuco-methylene blue

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
21 Apr 2017
Accepted
04 Jun 2017
First published
09 Jun 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2017,7, 30080-30085

Hydrogenation/oxidation induced efficient reversible color switching between methylene blue and leuco-methylene blue

Y. Liu, X. Zhou, X. Wang, K. Liang, Z. Yang, C. Shen, M. Imran, S. Sahar and A. Xu, RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 30080 DOI: 10.1039/C7RA04498D

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