title: Silica-supported Au@hollow-SiO2particles with outstanding catalytic activity prepared via block copolymer template approach.
abstract: Catalytically active Au@hollow-SiO2particles embedded in porous silica support (Au@hollow-SiO2@PSS) were prepared by using spherical micelles from poly(styrene)-block-poly(4-vinyl pyridine) block copolymer as a sacrificial template. Drastic increase of the shell porosity was observed after pyrolytic removal of polymeric template because the stretched poly(4-vinyl pyridine) chains interpenetrating with silica shell acted as an effective porogen. The embedding of Au@hollow-SiO2particles in porous silica support prevented their fusion during pyrolysis. The catalytic activity of Au@hollow-SiO2@PSS was investigated using a model reaction of catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol and reductive degradation of Congo red azo-dye. Significantly, to the best of our knowledge, Au@hollow-SiO2@PSS catalyst shows the highest activity among analogous systems reported till now in literature. Such high activity was attributed to the presence of multiple pores within silica shell of Au@hollow-SiO2particles and easy accessibility of reagents to the catalytically active sites of the ligand-free gold surface through the porous silica support.
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., Hohe Strasse 6, Dresden 01069, Germany.
authors.forename: Aruni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shajkumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Textile Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India. Electronic address: nandan@textile.iitd.ac.in.
authors.forename: Bhanu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nandan
authors.affiliation: Department of Textile Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India.
authors.forename: Sunita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sanwaria
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., Hohe Strasse 6, Dresden 01069, Germany.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Albrecht
authors.affiliation: Center of Polymer and Carbon Materials, Polish Academy of Science, M. Curie-Sklodowskej 34, 41-819 Zabrze, Poland.
authors.forename: Marcin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Libera
authors.affiliation: The Graduate School of Flexible and Printable Electronics, Center for Polymer Fusion Technology, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Chonbuk 561-756, South Korea.
authors.forename: Myong-Hoon
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Chemische Physik fester Stoffe, Nöthnitzer Straβe 40, D-01187 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Gudrun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Auffermann
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., Hohe Strasse 6, Dresden 01069, Germany; Technische Universität Dresden, Physical Chemistry of Polymer Materials, Dresden 01062, Germany. Electronic address: stamm@ipfdd.de.
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stamm
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., Hohe Strasse 6, Dresden 01069, Germany. Electronic address: horechyy@ipfdd.de.
authors.forename: Andriy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Horechyy
keywords: Block copolymer micelles; Nanocatalyst; Sol-gel; Template; Yolk-shell