Shape-tailoring of gold nanostructures: can a detergent act as the reducing or protecting agent?

Gold nanoparticles standing on PEG/PAMAM/thiol-functionalized nanographene oxide as aqueous catalysts

Gold nanoparticles were aptly in situ grown on PEG/PAMAM/thiol-functionalized nanographene oxide platforms for aqueous catalysis.

Biosynthesis of Ag2S/TiO2 nanotubes nanocomposites by Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 for the catalytic degradation of 4-nitrophenol

Biosynthesized nanocomposites are attracting growing interests because they are environmentally friendly. Ag₂S nanoparticles (Ag₂S NPs) are deposited in situ on the surfaces of TiO₂ nanotubes (TNTs) via Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 to form Ag₂S/TNT nanocomposites. The prepared Ag₂S/TNTs nanocomposites are characterized using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The results show that Ag₂S NPs smaller than 8 nm are successfully synthesized and fabricated on the TNT surfaces with relatively uniform distribution. The catalytic performance of the Ag₂S/TNT nanocomposites is evaluated for catalytic reduction in the presence of NaBH₄ and the photocatalytic degradation of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) under visible light. The Ag₂S/TNT nanocomposites show excellent catalytic activity and good stability in the 4-NP reduction process. The 4-NP degradation ratio reaches 98.3% in 50 min, and 87% conversion was achieved after eight cycles. The Ag₂S/TNT nanocomposites also exhibit excellent photocatalytic activity for 4-NP at a rate of 0.69 h^-1, and the complete degradation of 4-NP was observed within 5 h. Therefore, this study offers an environmentally friendly approach to synthesize nanocomposites for practical applications.

Simple, low-cost, sensitive and label-free aptasensor for the detection of cardiac troponin I based on a gold nanoparticles modified titanium foil

This research demonstrated the electrochemical modification of low-cost titanium (Ti) metal substrate with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for the aptamer-based detection of cardiac troponin I (cTnI). AuNPs were deposited onto Ti sheets by the potential-step deposition method with high density and homogeneity as well as good crystallinity. It was then applied as a transducer to immobilize a thiol-functionalized DNA aptamer via the self-assembled monolayer mechanism for the specific binding of cTnI. This was verified through electrochemical and morphological analyses. The aptasensor could detect cTnI in a linear range of 1-1100 pM with a detection limit of ca. 0.18 pM. The aptasensor showed high sensitivity and specificity to cTnI over other interfering compounds with good recoveries in the diluted human serum samples.

Fabrication of Au/CNT hollow fiber membrane for 4-nitrophenol reduction

An Au/CNT hollow fiber membrane is synthesized for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol.

Graphene oxide supported Au-Ag alloy nanoparticles with different shapes and their high catalytic activities

A simple method was developed to fabricate Au-Ag nanoparticle/graphene oxide nanocomposites (Au-Ag/GO) by using simultaneous redox reactions between AgNO3, HAuCl4 and GO. The Au-Ag/GO was characterized by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. The GO nanosheets acted as the reducing agent and the support for the Au-Ag alloy nanoparticles. In addition, Au-Ag alloy nanoparticles with different shapes including core-shell-like, dendrimer-like and flower-like were obtained by simply modifying the concentration of the reactants and the reaction temperature. With no reducing or stabilizing agents added, the Au-Ag/GO nanocomposites show superior catalytic performance for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol and for the aerobic homocoupling of phenylboronic acid.

In situ assembly of well-dispersed Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) on electrospun carbon nanofibers (CNFs) for catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol

Carbon nanofibers/silver nanoparticles (CNFs/AgNPs) composite nanofibers were fabricated by two steps consisting of the preparation of the CNFs by electrospinning and the hydrothermal growth of the AgNPs on the CNFs. The as-prepared nanofibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, resonant Raman spectra, thermal gravimetric and differential thermal analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. The results indicated that not only were AgNPs (25-50 nm) successfully grown on the CNFs but also the AgNPs were distributed without aggregation on the CNFs. Further more, by adjusting the parameters in hydrothermal processing, the content of silver supported on the CNFs could be easily controlled. The catalytic activities of the CNFs/AgNPs composite nanofibers to the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) with NaBH(4) were tracked by UV-visible spectroscopy. It was suggested that the CNFs/AgNPs composite nanofibers exhibited high catalytic activity in the reduction of 4-NP, which might be attributed to the high surface areas of AgNPs and synergistic effect on delivery of electrons between CNFs and AgNPs. And, the catalytic efficiency was enhanced with the increasing of the content of silver on the CNFs/AgNPs composite nanofibers. Notably, the CNFs/AgNPs composite nanofibers could be easily recycled due to their one-dimensional nanostructural property.