Branch number matters: Promoting catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol over gold nanostars by raising the number of branches and coating with mesoporous SiO2

© 2016 Elsevier Inc. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time that highly branched gold nanostars (AuNSs) and silica-coated AuNSs (AuNSs@mSiO2) could potentially serve as efficient hydrogenation catalysts. The catalytic activity could be promoted by raising the number of tipped-branches of A...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ndokoye, P., Zhao, Q., Li, Xin Yong, Li, T., Tade, Moses, Wang, Shaobin
Format: Journal Article
Published: Academic Press 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/8924
_version_ 1848745801187065856
author Ndokoye, P.
Zhao, Q.
Li, Xin Yong
Li, T.
Tade, Moses
Wang, Shaobin
author_facet Ndokoye, P.
Zhao, Q.
Li, Xin Yong
Li, T.
Tade, Moses
Wang, Shaobin
author_sort Ndokoye, P.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2016 Elsevier Inc. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time that highly branched gold nanostars (AuNSs) and silica-coated AuNSs (AuNSs@mSiO2) could potentially serve as efficient hydrogenation catalysts. The catalytic activity could be promoted by raising the number of tipped-branches of AuNSs, which reveals that the tips play an important role as active sites. The fabricated sharply-pointed AuNSs benefit the electron transfer from BH4 anions to 4-nitrophenol. Coating AuNSs with mesoporous silica (AuNSs@mSiO2) further enhanced the reduction rate and recyclability, and also contributed to reducing the induction period. The AuNSs@mSiO2 (50-100 nm in diameter) are large enough to be catalytically inactive, but they consist of sharply-pointed tips with the radius of 2.6-3.6 nm, which are rich in coordinately unsaturated sites similar to those of nanoparticles and clusters. Such features in structure and activity would also extend their application range in heterogeneous catalysis.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T06:23:08Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-8924
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T06:23:08Z
publishDate 2016
publisher Academic Press
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-89242017-09-13T14:33:46Z Branch number matters: Promoting catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol over gold nanostars by raising the number of branches and coating with mesoporous SiO2 Ndokoye, P. Zhao, Q. Li, Xin Yong Li, T. Tade, Moses Wang, Shaobin © 2016 Elsevier Inc. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time that highly branched gold nanostars (AuNSs) and silica-coated AuNSs (AuNSs@mSiO2) could potentially serve as efficient hydrogenation catalysts. The catalytic activity could be promoted by raising the number of tipped-branches of AuNSs, which reveals that the tips play an important role as active sites. The fabricated sharply-pointed AuNSs benefit the electron transfer from BH4 anions to 4-nitrophenol. Coating AuNSs with mesoporous silica (AuNSs@mSiO2) further enhanced the reduction rate and recyclability, and also contributed to reducing the induction period. The AuNSs@mSiO2 (50-100 nm in diameter) are large enough to be catalytically inactive, but they consist of sharply-pointed tips with the radius of 2.6-3.6 nm, which are rich in coordinately unsaturated sites similar to those of nanoparticles and clusters. Such features in structure and activity would also extend their application range in heterogeneous catalysis. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/8924 10.1016/j.jcis.2015.11.032 Academic Press restricted
spellingShingle Ndokoye, P.
Zhao, Q.
Li, Xin Yong
Li, T.
Tade, Moses
Wang, Shaobin
Branch number matters: Promoting catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol over gold nanostars by raising the number of branches and coating with mesoporous SiO2
title Branch number matters: Promoting catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol over gold nanostars by raising the number of branches and coating with mesoporous SiO2
title_full Branch number matters: Promoting catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol over gold nanostars by raising the number of branches and coating with mesoporous SiO2
title_fullStr Branch number matters: Promoting catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol over gold nanostars by raising the number of branches and coating with mesoporous SiO2
title_full_unstemmed Branch number matters: Promoting catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol over gold nanostars by raising the number of branches and coating with mesoporous SiO2
title_short Branch number matters: Promoting catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol over gold nanostars by raising the number of branches and coating with mesoporous SiO2
title_sort branch number matters: promoting catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol over gold nanostars by raising the number of branches and coating with mesoporous sio2
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/8924