Synthesis and electrocatalytic property of mono-dispersed Ag/Fe3O4 composite micro-sphere

Highlights: → In the present work, a facile and easily controlled procedure with one step was designed to synthesize mono-diverse Ag/Fe3O4 micro-spheres. → The electrocatalytic activities of the Ag/Fe3O4 nanomaterials decorated on a glassy carbon electrode for p-nitrophenol reduction in a basic solution were examined. → All the establishments are novel and little reports about these can be obtained. - Abstract: One-step reaction was designed to synthesize mono-dispersed Ag/Fe3O4 micro-sphere with different Ag content via a facile and easily controlled hydrothermal method without use of any surfactant. The phases and composition analysis of the as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. The morphology of the samples was observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The results revealed that the Ag/Fe3O4 composite samples with different Ag content were micro-spheres with almost the identical size of 175 nm or so in diameter. The electrocatalytic activity of the resultant samples modified on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) for p-nitrophenol reduction in a basic solution was investigated. The results indicated that all the samples exhibited enhanced electrocatalytic activity for p-nitrophenol reduction, and the sample with 3% Ag exhibited the highest electrocatalytic one.