Noncontact Synergistic Effect between Au Nanoparticles and the Fe2O3 Spindle Inside a Mesoporous Silica Shell as Studied by the Fenton-like Reaction.

An Au-Fe2O3@mesoporous SiO2 nanoreactor with a multiyolks/shell structure was synthesized through a multistep method. In this nanoreactor, the spindle Fe2O3 and Au nanoparticles were inside the same mesoporous SiO2 shell as the yolks but in a noncontact manner. The noncontact synergistic effect between Au nanoparticles and the Fe2O3 spindle was studied with a Fenton-like reaction. The catalytic activity of the Au-Fe2O3@mesoporous SiO2 nanoreactor to the Fenton-like reaction for the degradation of organic dyes was dramatically enhanced by the noncontact synergistic effect.