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Matryoshka-caged gold nanorods: Synthesis, plasmonic properties, and catalytic activity

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Abstract

Matryoshka-caged gold nanorods (mCGNRs) were successfully synthesized by alternating between a seed-mediated silver-coating method and galvanic replacement reactions (GRRs). As the number of matryoshka layers of the mCGNRs increased, the plasmon resonance peak broadened and was red-shifted, and the catalytic activity towards the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NTP) increased. When mCGNRs with 6 layers were used as nanocatalysts in the reduction of 4-nitrophenol, the reaction rate coefficient was 5.2- and 3.7-times higher than that of the gold-nanorod- and caged-gold-nanorod-catalyzed reductions of 4-nitrophenol, respectively. In addition, the surface-plasmon-resonance-based absorption of light enhanced the catalytic performance of the mCGNRs. With the support of a polyurethane foam, the mCGNRs synthesized in this study can be applied as recyclable heterogeneous catalysts for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia

    Wei Xiong, Lim Wei Yap, Pengzhen Guo & Wenlong Cheng

  2. The Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication, 151 Wellington Road, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia

    Wei Xiong, Lim Wei Yap, Pengzhen Guo & Wenlong Cheng

  3. Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering and State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, School of Environmental Sciences and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China

    Wei Xiong & Xinyong Li

  4. Advanced Computing and Simulation Laboratory (AχL), Department of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia

    Debabrata Sikdar & Malin Premaratne

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  1. Wei Xiong
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  2. Debabrata Sikdar
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  3. Lim Wei Yap
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  4. Pengzhen Guo
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  6. Xinyong Li
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  7. Wenlong Cheng
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Correspondence to Wenlong Cheng.

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Xiong, W., Sikdar, D., Yap, L.W. et al. Matryoshka-caged gold nanorods: Synthesis, plasmonic properties, and catalytic activity. Nano Res. 9, 415–423 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-015-0922-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-015-0922-8

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