Polystyrene Microspheres: Inactive Supporting Material for Recycling and Recovering Colloidal Nanocatalysts in Solution

Alumina and silica have been the most commonly, used solid supports in the recovery of colloidal nanocatalysts in solution. In order to avoid possible involvement of the support in the catalytic mechanism, polystyrene microspheres are here demonstrated to be effective and nonreactive supports on which the nanocatalyst can be easily attached by using the swelling and shrinking properties of the polystyrene microspheres. The activation energy of the reduction of 4-nitrophenol with sodium borohydride on platinum nanocubes free in solution is comparable to those on polystyrene microspheres.