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Structure regulated catalytic performance of gold nanocluster-MOF nanocomposites

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Abstract

Atomically precise gold (Au) nanoclusters (NCs) as visible light photosensitizers supported on the substrate for photoredox catalysis have attracted considerable attentions. However, efficient control of their photocatalytic activity and long-term stability is still challenging. Herein, we report a coordination-assisted self-assembly strategy in combination with electrostatic interaction to sandwich Au25(Capt)18 (abbreviated as Au25, Capt = captopril) NCs between an inner core and an outer shell made of UiO-66, denoted as UiO-66@Au25@UiO-66. Notably, the sandwich-like nanocomposite displays significantly enhanced catalytic activity along with an excellent stability when used in the selective photocatalytic aerobic oxidation of sulfide to sulfoxide. As comparison, Au25 NCs simply located at the outer surface or insider matrix of UiO-66 (short as Au25/UiO-66 and Au25@UiO-66) show poor stability and low conversion, respectively. This structure regulated difference in the catalytic performances of three nanocomposites is assigned to the varied distribution of active sites (Au NCs) in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). This work offers the opportunity for application of nanoclusters in catalysis, energy conversion and even biology.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported financially by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (No. 2016YFA0200700, Z. Y. T.), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21890381 and 21721002, Z. Y. T.), Frontier Science Key Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. QYZDJ-SSW-SLH038, Z. Y. T.), and K.C. Wong Education Foundation (Z. Y. T.).

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  1. Yanfei Zhu and Xueying Qiu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China

    Yanfei Zhu, Xueying Qiu, Shenlong Zhao, Jun Guo, Xiaofei Zhang, Wenshi Zhao, Yanan Shi & Zhiyong Tang

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Yanfei Zhu, Wenshi Zhao, Yanan Shi & Zhiyong Tang

  3. School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Shenlong Zhao

  4. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150080, China

    Xueying Qiu

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  1. Yanfei Zhu
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Correspondence to Zhiyong Tang.

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Zhu, Y., Qiu, X., Zhao, S. et al. Structure regulated catalytic performance of gold nanocluster-MOF nanocomposites. Nano Res. 13, 1928–1932 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-2715-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-2715-y

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