Synthesis of Graphene Oxide Based CuOx Nanocomposites and Application for C-N Cross Coupling Reaction

Graphene has attracted an increasing attention due to its extraordinary electronic, mechanical, and thermal properties. Especially, the two dimensional (2D) sheet of graphene with an extremely high surface to volume ratio has a great potential in the preparation of multifunctional nanomaterials, as 2D supports to host metal nanoparticles (NPs). Copper oxide is widely used in various areas as antifouling paint, p-type semiconductor, dry cell batteries, and catalysts. Although the copper oxide(II) has been well known for efficient catalyst in C-N cross-coupling reaction, copper oxide(I) has not been highlighted. In this research, CuO and Cu2O nanoparticles (NPs) dispersed on the surface of grapehene oxide (GO) have been synthesized by impregnation method and their morphological and electronic structures have been systemically investigated using TEM, XRD, and XAFS. We demonstrate that both CuO and Cu2O on graphene presents efficient catalytic performance toward C-N cross coupling reaction. The detailed structural difference between CuO and Cu2O NPs and their effect on catalytic performance are discussed.