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Updated: Oct 28, 2026

Catalytic Reactions at Amine-Stabilized and Ligand-Free Platinum Nanoparticles Supported on Titania During Hydrogenation of Alkenes and Aldehydes
Published on: June 24, 2022
Engineering ruthenium catalyst inside hollow mesoporous silica nanoreactors via flash nanoprecipitation for selective
Yanxin Wang1, Zhigang Zhang1, Jinzhu Chen1
1College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 511443, China.
Abstract:
Ru nanoparticles supported on polystyrene-block-poly(acrylic acid) (Ru@PS-PAA) was constructed via a flash nanoprecipitation (FNP) strategy. Subsequently, Ru nanoparticles confined in hollow-mesoporous SiO2 (Ru@SiO2) was obtained with Ru@PS-PAA as precursor. Ru@PS-PAA exhibited high selectivity toward furfural‑hydrogenation achieving 98% yield of furfuryl-alcohol. In contrast, Ru@SiO2 promoted consecutive hydrogenation of aldehyde-group and furan-ring of furfural to quantitatively afford tetrahydrofurfuryl-alcohol in 97% yield under identical conditions. The polymeric confinement in Ru@PS-PAA provides a soft and flexible microenvironment that stabilizes Ru nanoparticles, regulates the residence and diffusion of furfural for its selective CO bond hydrogenation. In contrast, the hollow-mesoporous SiO2 nanoreactor of Ru@SiO2 offers a rigid confined-cavity that enriches furfural and furfuryl-alcohol around Ru active-sites, prolongs their residence time, and facilitates consecutive hydrogenation-pathway toward tetrahydrofurfuryl-alcohol. This work highlights the potential of FNP as a versatile platform for constructing high-performance heterogeneous-catalysts with controllable size, morphology and confined structures.
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