Nanoparticles of Prussian blue was better than hell
Chemists from Moscow state University have synthesized a new catalyst for the selective recovery of hydrogen peroxide. It can be useful both in industry and in medicine.
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Scientists of chemical faculty of Moscow state University proposed a new catalyst for the reduction of hydrogen peroxide. It consists of nanoparticles of Prussian blue (blue pigment, a mixture of hexacyanoferrate (II)), and accelerates the reduction reaction is 1000 times better than the horseradish peroxidase — known “natural” catalyst of this process. The results published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
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Peroxide (peroxide) hydrogen compound with the formula H2O2. Oxygen in a molecule is in an intermediate oxidation state of -1, so the peroxide is a strong oxidizing agent (i.e., a particle that accepts electrons). People use this substance in many areas: for disinfection of waste water, for bleaching in the cellulose industry, for the processing of fresh cow’s milk. Unfortunately, it does happen and the leak of peroxide into the environment, therefore its definition and recovery is an important scientific task. Additionally, the detection of peroxide can be used in medicine to detect various diseases: oxidative stress, diabetes and some cancers.
There is a natural catalyst for the recovery of peroxides, the enzyme peroxidase, which is obtained from the roots of horseradish.
Chemists from Moscow state University were able to reproduce and improve the properties of peroxidase by constructing your own “managerment” of the particles of Prussian blue: a blue dye, known since the XVIII century. This compound is a mixture of complex cyanides of iron c average formula Fe7 (CN)18.
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Prussian blue have been used previously for the catalytic determination of hydrogen peroxide, but MSU scientists synthesized it in an unconventional way, using the process of synthesis of the peroxide, which in the end, it is assumed catalytically to restore.
Thus obtained particles have a slightly different microstructure and better suited for catalysis. Catalytic properties of particles depend on size: large particles showed the best activity.