Facile preparation and catalytic performance characterization of AuNPs-loaded hierarchical electrospun composite fibers by solvent vapor annealing treatment

A new ternary poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL)/poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)@AuNPs composite material with high catalytic activity and favorable structural stability has been successfully prepared. The prepared PCL/PEO composite fibers by electrospinning have been treated with an easy-to-operate solvent vapor annealing (SVA) process, demonstrating wrinkled fiber nanostructures, promoting the significantly high specific surface area and more active sites in the surface of electrospun fiber. Then NaBH4 was used as a reducing agent to reduce HAuCl4 to form gold nanoparticles, resulting in the targeted PCL/PEO@AuNPs composite material. The obtained PCL/ PEO@AuNPs composites demonstrated potential catalytic ability and good reusability in the catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol and 2-nitroaniline systems, showing promising and wide applications in catalytic composite materials and self-assembled films.