Green synthesis of metal/C and metal oxide/C films by using natural membrane as support

Abstract

A protocol aiming at making use of the huge amount of naturally existing wastes such as defoliation, pericarp and egg shell for nanostructured composite materials was proposed. In this study, a green synthetic route using naturally existing membrane as support was developed for the synthesis of nanostructured and porous metal- or metal oxide-carbon composite films. Different metallic ions (Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Fe³⁺, Mn²⁺ or Cu²⁺) can be easily adsorbed onto egg membranes and the followed calcination process results in the formation of Co/C, Ni/C, Fe₃O₄/C, MnO/C or Cu/Cu₂O/CuO/C composite films. The electrochemical studies demonstrate that such composite films would have potential applications in energy fields. This method would provide a general green concept for chemical synthesis and be beneficial to the global sustainable future.

Keywords

green synthesis / metal / metal oxide / composite / electrochemistry

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51172106 and 21071076).

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg