Preparation and characterization of magnetic gold shells using different sizes of gold nanoseeds and their corresponding effects on catalysis

The effect of gold nanoseeds with different sizes on the gold shell was investigated. Gold nanoparticles of two different sizes (similar to 3 nm and similar to 15 nm) were prepared and attached to the surface of amine functionalized silica coated iron oxide nanoparticles. The gold nanoparticles assembled on the surface were used as seeds for further gold shell formation. It was observed that the amount of Au attached to iron oxide nanoparticles is higher for bigger gold nanoseeds as compared to smaller gold nanoseeds. Similarly, after the formation of gold shell, a higher amount of Au was found for larger gold nanoparticles. However, both transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results show that a complete, uniform, and compact gold shell was formed in the case of using small gold nanoseeds, but for larger gold nanoseeds the shell formed was discontinuous and was not uniform, while most of the gold nanoparticles were found to be aggregated on the surface. The nanocomposites showed high efficiency in catalysis for the reduction of 4-nirophenol, among which Nanocomp-2, with a thin stable gold shell showed excellent catalytic activity and reusability. All of the nanocomposites have high magnetization values and can be easily separated from the reaction mixture using a magnet and can be reused.