Gold@Polymer Nanostructures with Tunable Permeability Shells for Selective Catalysis

摘要

We have introduced a novel "outside-in" route to encapsulate Au NPs in mesoporous polymer shells. By simply adjusting the reaction time, Au@polymer nano-structures with controllable permeability shells were obtained. As the mesoporous shell allows the materials exchange between inner core and environment, secondary growth of the encapsulated Au NPs can be easily realized. This advantage makes the diameter of the Au core controllable. More importantly, the hydrophobic mesoporous shell endows the Au@polymer nanostruclure with selective catalytic activity. Only hydrophobic molecules can pass through the hydrophobic shell and be catalyzed by the encapsulated Au NP. We believe that this "outside-in" route may be of interest in encapsulating metal NEs in mesoporous polymer shells, and the selective catalytic activity of this type of Au@polymer nanostructure may prove to be useful in the field of selective catalysis.