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β-Cyclodextrin polymer networks stabilized gold nanoparticle with superior catalytic activities

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Abstract

Support materials play a significant role in heterogeneous nanocatalysis. In this work, β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) was used directly as a monomer to construct polymer networks for gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) immobilization. Using the simple nucleophilic substitution reaction, β-CD based polymer networks (β-CDP-N and β-CDP-C) were successfully prepared. Compared to β-CDP-C, the hydroxyl groups and N atoms in β-CDP-N played a synergistic role in immobilizing smaller Au NPs, thus leading to high catalytic activities. Notably, the apparent rate constant (Kapp) value for Au@ β-CDP-N in the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol is 14.15 × 10−2 s−1, which shows a significant improvement over all previously reported Au NPs with solid supports under similar conditions. Considering the negligible porosity of the β-CDP-N support, we purposed a “capture-catalysis-release” model to explain the high catalytic activity of Au@ β-CDP-N. This explanation is supported by the guest-responsive properties of β-CDP-N. Moreover, the Au@ β-CDP-N is easily recycled and maintained its high catalytic efficiency after seven successful cycles.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21865003 and 21562003), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2018M640114), National Undergraduate Training Programs for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (No. 201910418003) and the Gannan Normal University Innovation Fund (No. YCX19A002) for generous support.

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  1. Yong Zhang and Bing Hu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Organo-pharmaceutical Chemistry, Gannan Normal University, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Ganzhou, 341000, China

    Yong Zhang, Bing Hu, Xiao-Mei Cao, Liang Luo & Xin Hong

  2. State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Zhi-Peng Wang & San-Yuan Ding

  3. Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Yu Xiong

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  1. Yong Zhang
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Zhang, Y., Hu, B., Cao, XM. et al. β-Cyclodextrin polymer networks stabilized gold nanoparticle with superior catalytic activities. Nano Res. 14, 1018–1025 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-3144-7

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