Green preparation of Ag nanoparticles/graphite nanosheets composite

A simple chemical edge doping method to prepare the Ag nanoparticles/graphite nanosheets (Ag/GNS) composite is presented. The GNS were fabricated in water with the assistance of a high pressure homogenisation (HPH). Ag nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) were decorated on GNS by edge doping. HPH was proved to be an efficient way to fabricate GNS with active sites to anchor metal nanoparticles in the authors’ work. The Ag/GNS composite synthesised by edge doping barely had any defects. The average diameter of the Ag-NPs in this case was 52.6 nm. It was observed that the fabricated Ag-NPs distributed mainly on the edge of GNS where the active sites were. The Ag/GNS composite exhibited a distinct surface-enhanced Raman scattering effect with a low concentration of silver. The Ag-NPs on the composite had improved stability (up to a month). It is believed that this simple and green method of nanocomposite preparation will shed some lights on the large-scale production of metal-nanoparticles-decorated carbon matrices.