Preparation of gold-dendrimer nanocomposites by laser irradiation and their catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol

Gold nanoparticles were prepared in the presence of poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers (generations 3.0 and 5.0) or poly(propyleneimine) (PPI) dendrimers (generations 3.0 and 4.0) with surface amino groups by laser irradiation. UV-visible absorption, dynamic light scattering, and transmission electron microscopy have been used to study the formation and structure of the nanocomposites. The reduction of Au3+ ions proceeded with an increase of the irradiation time, and the average diameters of the gold nanoparticles obtained tended to decrease with an increase of the dendrimer concentration. It is suggested that the dendrimers are adsorbed on the nanoparticles as a monolayer. Studies of the reduction reaction of 4-nitrophenol by the gold nanoparticles with NaBH4 reveal that the rate constants for PPI dendrimers are higher than those for PAMAM dendrimers, whereas the size of the PPI dendrimer of the same generation is considerably smaller than that of the PAMAM dendrimer.