Facile Synthesis of Au Nanoparticles Embedded in an Ultrathin Hollow Graphene Nanoshell with Robust Catalytic Performance.

Au nanoparticles (NPs) uniformly embedded into an ultrathin hollow graphene nanoshell (Au@HGN) are synthesized using a facile template-based procedure. The obtained Au@HGN catalyst exhibits robust and stable catalytic performance in the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol, compared with that of traditional Au/TiO2 and previously reported Au- and Ag-based catalysts.