Exploring the Fate of Copper Ions in the Synthesis of Graphdiyne

Copper is a crucial catalyst in the synthesis of graphdiyne (GDY). However, as catalysts, the final fate of the copper ions has hardly been concerned, which are usually treated as impurities. Here, it is observed that after simple washing with water and ethanol, GDY still contains a certain amount of copper ions, and demonstrated that the copper ions are adsorbed at the atomic layers of GDY. Furthermore, we transformed in situ the copper ions into ultrathin Cu nanocrystals, and the obtained Cu/GDY hybrids can be generally converted into a series of metal/GDY hybrid materials, such as Ag/GDY, Au/GDY, Pt/GDY, Pd/GDY, and Rh/GDY. The Cu/GDY hybrids exhibit extraordinary surface enhanced Raman scattering effect and can be applied in pollutant efficient enrichment and detection. Where does the copper catalyst used for graphdiyne (GDY) synthesis finally go? It was found that these copper ions are tightly adsorbed on the atomic layer of GDY. Fortunately, they can be in situ converted into copper ultrathin nanocrystals and applied for pollutant enrichment and detection.image