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Updated: Feb 11, 2026

Gold Nanoparticle Synthesis
Published on: July 10, 2021
Co-Template Directed Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles in Mesoporous Titanium Dioxide
Ben Liu1,2, Michael Louis3, Lei Jin1
1Department of Chemistry, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 06269, USA.
Abstract:
A bottom-up synthetic methodology to encapsulate pre-synthesized, well-defined gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) into mesoporous titanium dioxide framework (Au@mTiO2 ) is reported. This method employs two structurally and chemically similar templates of amphiphilic block copolymers as well as poly(ethylene oxide)-tethered AuNPs, which showed excellent stability during sol-gel transition and thermal annealing at elevated temperatures. Such synthesis enabled precise control of sizes and loading of AuNPs within the mesoporous TiO2 framework. In light-driven methanol dehydrogenation, the presence of AuNPs significantly enhanced the photocatalytic activity of mTiO2 . This co-template-directed synthesis presents new opportunities to understand the effect of AuNP size in photocatalysis using Au@mTiO2 materials.
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