A novel hydrogel containing thioether group as selective support material for preparation of gold nanoparticles: Synthesis and catalytic applications

In this study, firstly N-metacrylamido thiomorpholine containing thioether group was synthesized as monomer. Then, p(AAm-co-MTM) hydrogels were prepared from the redox polymerization of acrylamide and N-metacrylamido thiomorpholine as a selective support material. p(AAm-co-MTM) hydrogel-gold nanoparticles were obtained as a result of the reduction of the selectively absorbed gold(III) ions by the hydrogel network using NaBH 4 as reducing agent. All materials were characterized using techniques such as SEM, EDX, TEM and XRD analysis. It was determined that p(AAm-co-MTM)-Au composite material has high catalytic activity for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol. The activation parameters of the reduction reaction of 4-nitrophenol using NaBH4 in the presence of p(AAm-co-MTM)-Au catalyst were calculated as E-a = 38.80 kJ/mol, Delta H-# = 36.16 kJ/mol and Delta S-# = - 161.37 J/mol K.