Mesoporous gold nanospheres via thiolate-Au(i) intermediates

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Electrochemistry

Background:

• Mesoporous gold (mesoAu) nanostructures offer enhanced catalytic performance due to their unique 3D mesochannels.
• Existing methods for synthesizing mesoAu nanospheres with controlled size and porosity are challenging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel, surfactant-directed synthesis for creating mesoAu nanospheres.
• To demonstrate the ability to tailor size, porosity, and optical properties of mesoAu nanospheres.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an amphiphilic surfactant, C22N-SH, as a mesopore-directing agent.
• Employed in situ chemical reduction for the crystallization and growth of mesoAu nanospheres.
• Investigated the self-assembly mechanism involving polymeric C22N-S-Au(i) intermediates.

Main Results:

• Successfully fabricated mesoAu nanospheres with 3D interconnected mesochannels.
• Demonstrated tunable sizes and porosities of the synthesized nanospheres.
• Achieved significantly enhanced mass/specific activity and stability in methanol electrooxidation compared to non-porous gold nanoparticles.

Conclusions:

• The novel surfactant-directed synthesis provides a new route for fabricating functional mesoporous gold nanostructures.
• This method offers advantages over traditional soft-templating approaches for nanocrystal synthesis.
• The synthesized mesoAu nanospheres show great potential for electrocatalytic applications, particularly in methanol oxidation.