The dumbbell- and flower-like Au-Fe3O4 heterostructures by thermal decomposition of iron-oleate complex in the presence of Au nanoparticles have been successfully fabricated using different sizes of Au NPs as the seeds for magnetically recyclable catalysis of p-nitrophenol and 2,4-dinitrophenol reduction. The heterostructures exhibit bifunctional properties with high magnetization and excellent catalytic activity towards nitrophenol reduction. The pseudo-first-order rate constants for nitrophenol reduction are 0.63-0.72 min-1 and 0.38-0.46 min-1 for dumbbell- and flower-like Au-Fe3O4 heterostructures, respectively. Good separation ability and reusability which can be repeatedly applied for nearly complete reduction of nitrophenols for at least 6 successive cycles are obtained.  In addition, the reduction efficiency and rate of nitrophenol by Au-Fe3O4 is highly dependent on pH, temperature, and reductant concentration. These unique properties make Au-Fe3O4 heterostructures an ideal platform to be potentially applied in a wide variety of fields of purification, catalysis, sensing devices, and green chemistry.

Fabrication of gold-magnetite heterostructures for recyclable reduction of nitropheols

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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