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Magnetic-porous microspheres with synergistic catalytic activity of small-sized gold nanoparticles and titania matrix

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Abstract

Fe3O4 nanoparticles immobilized on porous titania in micron-size range were decorated with small-sized gold nanoparticles and used as a plasmonic catalyst for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol. Monodisperse-porous magnetic titania microspheres were synthesized with bimodal pore-size distribution by the sol-gel templating method. Small-sized gold nanoparticles obtained by the Martin method were attached onto the aminated form of the magnetic titania microspheres. A significant enhancement in the catalytic activity was observed using the gold nanoparticle-decorated magnetic titania microspheres compared to gold nanoparticle-decorated magnetic silica microspheres because of the synergistic effect between small-sized gold nanoparticles and titania. The synergistic effect for gold nanoparticle-attached magnetic titania microspheres could be explained by surface plasmon resonance-induced transfer of hot electrons from gold nanoparticles to the conduction band of titania. Using the proposed catalyst, 4-nitrophenol could be converted to 4-aminophenol in an aqueous solution within 0.5 min. The 4-nitrophenol reduction rates were 2.5–79.3 times higher than those obtained with similar plasmonic catalysts. The selection of micron-size, magnetic, and porous titania microspheres as a support material for the immobilization of small-sized gold nanoparticles provided a recoverable plasmonic catalyst with high reduction ability.

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Acknowledgements

Special thanks are extended to the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TUBA) for research support provided to Prof. Ali Tuncel as a full member.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical Engineering Department, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Kadriye Özlem Hamaloğlu, Çiğdem Kip, Erhan Şenlik & Ali Tuncel

  2. Chemical Engineering Department, Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey

    Ebru Sağ & Berna Saraçoğlu Kaya

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  1. Kadriye Özlem Hamaloğlu
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  6. Ali Tuncel
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Correspondence to Ali Tuncel.

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Hamaloğlu, K.Ö., Sağ, E., Kip, Ç. et al. Magnetic-porous microspheres with synergistic catalytic activity of small-sized gold nanoparticles and titania matrix. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng. 13, 574–585 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-019-1799-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-019-1799-y

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