Fabrication of Au–Pd nanoparticles/graphene oxide and their excellent catalytic performance

A simple method to fabricate clean Au–Pd nanoparticles on graphene oxide (Au–Pd NPs/GO) without using any reducing agent or surfactant has been developed. GO simultaneously reduced the Au and Pd precursors to form a stable suspension of the Au–Pd NPs/GO. The nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma. The Au–Pd NPs/GO exhibited catalytic activity for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol and for the Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reaction of chlorobenzene and phenylboronic acid in aqueous media.