Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-21-2023
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Source Publication
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
Source ISSN
1944-8244
Original Item ID
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c04087
Abstract
Organic coatings on catalytic metal nanoparticles (NPs) typically hinder their activity due to the blocking of active sites. Therefore, considerable effort is made to remove organic ligands when preparing supported NP catalytic materials. Here, cationic polyelectrolyte coatings are shown to increase the catalytic activity of partially embedded gold nanoislands (Au NIs) toward transfer hydrogenation and oxidation reactions with anionic substrates compared to the activity of identical but uncoated Au NIs. Any potential steric hindrance caused by the coating is countered by a decrease in the activation energy of the reaction by half, resulting in overall enhancement. The direct comparison to identical but uncoated NPs isolates the role of the coating and provides conclusive evidence of enhancement. Our findings show that engineering the microenvironment of heterogeneous catalysts, creating hybrid materials that cooperatively interact with the reactants involved, is a viable and exciting path to improving their performance.
Recommended Citation
Langer, Nicholas; LeGrand, Mason; and Kedem, Ofer, "Cationic Polymer Coating Increases the Catalytic Activity of Gold Nanoparticles toward Anionic Substrates" (2023). Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications. 1082.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/chem_fac/1082
Comments
Accepted version. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Vol. 15, No. 24 (June 21, 2023): 29160-29169. DOI. © 2023 American Chemical Society. Used with permission.