Wu P, Bai P, Yan Z, Zhao GXS. Gold nanoparticles supported on mesoporous silica: origin of high activity and role of Au NPs in selective oxidation of cyclohexane.
Sci Rep 2016;
6:18817. [PMID:
26729288 PMCID:
PMC4700469 DOI:
10.1038/srep18817]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2015] [Accepted: 11/26/2015] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Homogeneous immobilization of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) on mesoporous silica has been achieved by using a one-pot synthesis method in the presence of organosilane mercapto-propyl-trimethoxysilane (MPTMS). The resultant Au NPs exhibited an excellent catalytic activity in the solvent-free selective oxidation of cyclohexane using molecular oxygen. By establishing the structure-performance relationship, the origin of the high activity of mesoporous supported Au catalyst was identified to be due to the presence of low-coordinated Au (0) sites with high dispersion. Au NPs were confirmed to play a critical role in the catalytic oxidation of cyclohexane by promoting the activation of O2 molecules and accelerating the formation of surface-active oxygen species.
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