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Updated: Jul 2, 2026

Synthesis and Catalytic Performance of Gold Intercalated in the Walls of Mesoporous Silica
Published on: July 9, 2015
Catalysis by gold dispersed on supports: the importance of cationic gold
Juan C Fierro-Gonzalez1, Bruce C Gates
1Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Instituto Tecnológico de Celaya, Celaya, GTO 38010, Mexico.
Abstract:
There are many examples of catalysis in solution by cationic complexes of gold, and recent results, reviewed here in this critical review, demonstrate that cationic gold species on oxide and zeolite supports are also catalytically active, for reactions including ethylene hydrogenation and CO oxidation. The catalytically active gold species on supports are evidently not restricted to isolated mononuclear gold complexes, but include gold clusters, which for at least some reactions are more active than the mononuclear complexes and for some reactions less active. Fundamental questions remain about the nature of cationic gold in supported catalysts, such as the nature of the cationic gold clusters and the nature of gold atoms at metal-support interfaces (88 references).
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