Porous Silica-Coated Gold Nanorods: A Highly Active Catalyst for the Reduction of 4-Nitrophenol.

The successful coating of thin porous silica layers of various thicknesses [(10±1), (12±1), and (14±1) nm] on cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) capped gold nanorods was achieved through a modified Stöber procedure. The resulting material was applied as a novel catalyst for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol. The catalytic activities of the gold nanorods increased up to eight times after coating with a layer of porous silica and the reaction followed a zero-order kinetics, having a rate constant as high as 2.92×10(-1) mol L(-1) min(-1). The spectral changes during the reduction reaction of 4-nitrophenol were observed within a very short span of time and a complete conversion to 4-aminophenol occured within 5-6 mins, including the induction period of ≈2 mins. The reusability of the catalyst was studied by running the catalytic reaction during five consecutive cycles with good efficiency without destroying the nanostructure. The methodology can be effectively applied to the development of composite catalysts with highly enhanced catalytic activity.