Anchoring gold nanoparticles inside polyaniline shells with magnetic cores for the enhancement of catalytic stability

Abstract

It is of great importance to prevent catalysts from aggregating in order to maintain their high activity and stability for various applications. Based on a typical sacrificed SiO₂ template route, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) stabilized on an Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ surface were anchored onto the inner layer of a polyaniline (PANI) shell, endowing a protection effect to avoid direct contact with the aiming molecules. The existence of the Fe₃O₄ core allowed the facile recycling of the catalysts from the reaction system. Compared to the sample without the protection of the PANI shell, Fe₃O₄@Au–PANI presented a much higher catalytic stability using the reduction of 4-nitrophenol by NaBH₄ as a model reaction.