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A Comparison Study of Functional Groups (Amine vs. Thiol) for Immobilizing AuNPs on Zeolite Surface
Xi Rao1,2,3, Michaël Tatoulian4, Cédric Guyon4
1Key Laboratory of Luminescent and Real-Time Analytical Chemistry (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, School of Materials and Energy, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China. raoxiemail@swu.edu.cn.
Abstract:
Immobilization of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on the surface of zeolite has received a great interest due to Au@zeolite's unique characteristics and high performance for catalysis. In this work we studied the grafting of two different functional molecules; one having an amine group (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) and the second having a thiol group (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (MPTES) on the surface of zeolite using the same wet chemistry method. The modified zeolite surfaces were characterized using zeta potential measurements; diffuse reflectance infrared fourier transform (DRIFT) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results confirmed a successful deposition of both functional groups at the topmost surface of the zeolite. Furthermore; transmission electron microscopy (TEM), ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy and XPS results clearly evidenced that APTES provided a better AuNPs immobilization than MPTES as a result of; (1) less active functions obtained after MPTES deposition, and (2) the better attaching ability of thiol to the gold surface.
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