Ultra fast metal-free reduction catalyst of partial oxidized violet phosphorus synthesized via controlled mechanical energy

Violet phosphorus (VP), also known as Hittorf’s phosphorus (HP), is promised a next-generation 2D material with black phosphorus (BP). It is an intermediate in the process of synthesizing blacks starting with red phosphorus (RP), and has a unique activity. This VP does not show up in both red and black, and has a catalytic reduction performance. This catalytic performance was further enhanced by the partially oxidized P=O structure and showed a recyclable performance by reducing the 30 mg l−1 high concentration dye in a few minutes.The properties of the synthesized materials were confirmed by XRD, TEM, SEM, EDS, UV–vis–NIR spectrophotometer, FT-IR, EPR and Raman spectroscopy techniques. Dye materials were quantitatively analyzed by UV–vis-spectrophotometer using 4-nitrophenol, methylene blue (MB), rhodamine B, and the catalytic activity was measured. The amorphous VP had a very strong negative charge and the P=O structure acted as a redox functional group. The objective of this study was to investigate the low cost and high efficiency metal-free reduction catalyst materials due to these characteristics. © 2019 IOP Publishing Lt