Spontaneous Redox Approach to the Self-Assembly Synthesis of Au/CeO2 Plasmonic Photocatalysts with Rich Oxygen Vacancies for Selective Photocatalytic Conversion of Alcohols
Author(s)
Cui, Zhiqing
Wang, Weikang
Zhao, Cuijiao
Chen, Chun
Han, Miaomiao
Wang, Guozhong
Zhang, Yunxia
Zhang, Haimin
Zhao, Huijun
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2018
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
We present the self-assembly synthesis of core–shell structure Au/CeO2 composites with different Au loadings through a spontaneous chemical redox approach at an ambient temperature utilizing HAuCl4 and Ce(NO3)3 as reaction substrates in an alkaline environment. The results demonstrate that the as-synthesized Au/CeO2 composites exhibit spherical shape morphologies with porous structures, composed of Au nanoparticle (∼10 nm) cores and CeO2 nanoparticle shells with abundant oxygen vacancies. The introduction of Au nanoparticles in CeO2 not only effectively improves the visible light utilization efficiency but also provides rich ...
View more >We present the self-assembly synthesis of core–shell structure Au/CeO2 composites with different Au loadings through a spontaneous chemical redox approach at an ambient temperature utilizing HAuCl4 and Ce(NO3)3 as reaction substrates in an alkaline environment. The results demonstrate that the as-synthesized Au/CeO2 composites exhibit spherical shape morphologies with porous structures, composed of Au nanoparticle (∼10 nm) cores and CeO2 nanoparticle shells with abundant oxygen vacancies. The introduction of Au nanoparticles in CeO2 not only effectively improves the visible light utilization efficiency but also provides rich surface catalytic active sites for highly efficient visible light photocatalysis. As visible light photocatalysts (λ > 400 nm), the as-synthesized Au/CeO2 composites with the Au loading amount ≥4.0 wt % exhibit high conversion and selectivity (∼100%) of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde under the given experimental conditions. Moreover, Au/CeO2 also shows a general applicability as a visible light photocatalyst for the selective oxidation of other alcohols to corresponding aldehydes or ketones. The photocatalytic mechanism studies indicate that the photoelectrons/holes produced from the photoexcited Au and the formed superoxide radicals in the oxygen vacancies of CeO2 synergistically contribute to the high performance of the selective photocatalytic oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes or ketones.
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View more >We present the self-assembly synthesis of core–shell structure Au/CeO2 composites with different Au loadings through a spontaneous chemical redox approach at an ambient temperature utilizing HAuCl4 and Ce(NO3)3 as reaction substrates in an alkaline environment. The results demonstrate that the as-synthesized Au/CeO2 composites exhibit spherical shape morphologies with porous structures, composed of Au nanoparticle (∼10 nm) cores and CeO2 nanoparticle shells with abundant oxygen vacancies. The introduction of Au nanoparticles in CeO2 not only effectively improves the visible light utilization efficiency but also provides rich surface catalytic active sites for highly efficient visible light photocatalysis. As visible light photocatalysts (λ > 400 nm), the as-synthesized Au/CeO2 composites with the Au loading amount ≥4.0 wt % exhibit high conversion and selectivity (∼100%) of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde under the given experimental conditions. Moreover, Au/CeO2 also shows a general applicability as a visible light photocatalyst for the selective oxidation of other alcohols to corresponding aldehydes or ketones. The photocatalytic mechanism studies indicate that the photoelectrons/holes produced from the photoexcited Au and the formed superoxide radicals in the oxygen vacancies of CeO2 synergistically contribute to the high performance of the selective photocatalytic oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes or ketones.
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Journal Title
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume
10
Issue
37
Subject
Chemical sciences
Other chemical sciences not elsewhere classified
Engineering