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High catalytic activity of supported Au nanoparticles assisted with the surface selective adsorption

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Abstract

Although the immobilization of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) on the support is a conventional method for preventing them from aggregation and improving their separability at the cost of activity loss, herein, we developed a facile method to prepare supported Au NPs with the higher catalytic activity and better separability due to the selective adsorption of its functional surface. Firstly, the multi-functional carriers (amino-modified magnetic microspheres) were synthesized to immobilize Au NPs. Depending on its surface adsorption towards the reactant (p-nitrophenol), this carrier could greatly improve the mass transfer between p-nitrophenol (4-NP) and Au NPs resulting in the improvement of catalytic activity of supported Au NPs. The catalytic activity of supported Au NPs is increased more than 6.65 times compared with that of isolated Au NPs. Then, the effects of the particle size and supporting density of Au NPs on the catalytic activity were also investigated. Turnover frequency value of supported Au NPs (3.8 nm) reaches 16,000 h−1 when its surface density is controlled to 2211 μg g−1. Furthermore, the catalyst of Au/Fe3O4@PS-NH2 showed excellent catalytic activity when various nitrobenzene derivatives were employed as substrates. Remarkably, these supported Au NPs could be easily isolated by magnetic separation in 30 s. This catalyst could be recycled for 45 times without any loss in catalytic activity. The high catalytic activity and easy separability of this supported Au NPs make it much potential in large-scale application.

A magnetic carrier was prepared and its surface was modified with amino groups. Depending on the selective adsorption for 4-NP, the catalytic activity of supported Au NPs was greatly improved. This supported Au NPs could be easily isolated by magnetic separation and recycled for 45 times without any loss in catalytic activity. Thus, the higher catalytic activity and easier separation of supported Au NPs are smoothly combined together.

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Funding

This research is supported by the program of the Special Project on the Integration of Industry, Education and Research of Fujian Province (2017H6011); the Graphene Powder & Composite Research Center of Fujian Province (2017H2001); and the opening project of Key Laboratory of Ecological Environment and Information Atlas in Fujian Provincial University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, Fujian province, China

    Jun Chen, Wenlu Sun, Yinhao Li, Chunyan Deng & Hao Qian

  2. Suzhou Boiln Plastics Co., Ltd., Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China

    Chunjin Li

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  1. Jun Chen
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  2. Chunjin Li
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  3. Wenlu Sun
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  4. Yinhao Li
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  5. Chunyan Deng
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  6. Hao Qian
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Correspondence to Chunyan Deng or Hao Qian.

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Chen, J., Li, C., Sun, W. et al. High catalytic activity of supported Au nanoparticles assisted with the surface selective adsorption. J Nanopart Res 21, 146 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-019-4585-3

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