skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Adsorption and Catalytic Activity of Gold Nanoparticles in Mesoporous Silica: Effect of Pore Size and Dispersion Salinity

Journal Article · · Journal of Physical Chemistry. C
 [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3];  [4]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States)
  2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  3. Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States). Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices
  4. Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Valparaiso, IN (United States)

The assembled state of nanoparticles (NPs) within porous matrices plays a governing role in directing their biological, electronic, and catalytic properties. However, the effects of the spatial confinement and environmental factors, such as salinity, on the NP assemblies within the pores are poorly understood. In this study, we use adsorption isotherms, spectrophotometry, and small-angle neutron scattering to develop a better understanding of the effect of spatial confinement on the assembled state and catalytic performance of gold (Au) NPs in propylamine-functionalized SBA-15 and MCM-41 mesoporous silica materials (mSiO2). We carry out a detailed investigation of the effect of pore diameter and ionic strength on the packing and spatial distribution of AuNPs within mSiO2 to get a comprehensive insight into the structure, functioning, and activity of these NPs. We demonstrate the ability of the adsorbed AuNPs to withstand aggregation under high salinity conditions. We attribute the observed preservation of the adsorbed state of AuNPs to the strong electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged pore walls and AuNPs. The preservation of the structure allows the AuNPs to retain their catalytic activity for a model reaction in high salinity aqueous solution, here, the reduction of p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol, which otherwise is significantly diminished due to bulk aggregation of the AuNPs. This fundamental study demonstrates the critical role of confinement and dispersion salinity on the adsorption and catalytic performance of NPs.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725; CBET-1943986
OSTI ID:
1863296
Journal Information:
Journal of Physical Chemistry. C, Vol. 126, Issue 5; ISSN 1932-7447
Publisher:
American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (57)

Protein Immobilization in Surface-Functionalized SBA-15: Predicting the Uptake Capacity from the Pore Structure journal January 2015
Directed Pore Uptake and Phase Separation of Surfactant Solutions under Confinement journal March 2019
Formation of Gold and Silver Nanoparticle Arrays and Thin Shells on Mesostructured Silica Nanofibers journal September 2007
Effect of Surfactants and Polymers on Stability and Antibacterial Activity of Silver Nanoparticles (NPs) journal April 2008
Light-Triggered Self-Assembly of Gold Nanoparticles Based on Photoisomerization of Spirothiopyran journal June 2013
Enhanced release of itraconazole from ordered mesoporous SBA-15 silica materials journal January 2007
Thermodynamic Barrier for Nanoparticle Penetration into Nanotubes journal December 2020
THE CONSTITUTION AND FUNDAMENTAL PROPERTIES OF SOLIDS AND LIQUIDS. II. LIQUIDS. 1 journal September 1917
Plasmon-enabled degradation of organic micropollutants in water by visible-light illumination of Janus gold nanorods journal June 2020
The high yield synthesis and characterization of gold nanoparticles with superior stability and their catalytic activity journal January 2012
Influence of Local Environments in Pores of Different Size on the Catalytic Liquid-Phase Oxidation of d -Glucose by Au Nanoparticles Supported on Nanoporous Carbon journal July 2020
Amine-Functionalized Porous Silicas as Adsorbents for Aldehyde Abatement journal June 2013
Hybrid Mesoporous Silica/Noble-Metal Nanoparticle Materials—Synthesis and Catalytic Applications journal August 2018
Aggregation of Silica Nanoparticles Directed by Adsorption of Lysozyme journal August 2011
Gold Nanoparticle-Decellularized Matrix Hybrids for Cardiac Tissue Engineering journal September 2014
Simulations of Binary Mixture Adsorption of Carbon Dioxide and Methane in Carbon Nanotubes:  Temperature, Pressure, and Pore Size Effects journal July 2007
Catalytic Activity of Mono- and Bi-Metallic Nanoparticles Synthesized via Microemulsions journal July 2014
A carbon dot based biosensor for melamine detection by fluorescence resonance energy transfer journal October 2014
Assembly of Polymer-Tethered Gold Nanoparticles under Cylindrical Confinement journal May 2014
Comparison of Colloidal versus Supported Gold Nanoparticle Catalysis journal March 2018
Characterisation of nano-assemblies inside mesopores using neutron scattering* journal March 2021
Tuning MOF-Derived Co 3 O 4 /NiCo 2 O 4 Nanostructures for High-Performance Energy Storage journal February 2021
Integrating Halloysite Nanostraws in Porous Catalyst Supports to Enhance Molecular Transport journal August 2021
Ni 2 P Nanoparticles Embedded in Mesoporous SiO 2 for Catalytic Hydrogenation of SO 2 to Elemental S journal May 2021
Chiral Arrangements of Au Nanoparticles with Prescribed Handedness Templated by Helical Pores in Block Copolymer Films journal July 2017
Enhanced performance for early transition metal nitrides via pseudocapacitance in protic ionic liquid electrolytes journal April 2017
Alkanes-assisted low temperature formation of highly ordered SBA-15 with large cylindrical mesopores journal January 2005
Large-pore mesoporous SBA-15 silica particles with submicrometer size as stationary phases for high-speed CEC separation journal February 2006
Assembling Wormlike Micelles in Tubular Nanopores by Tuning Surfactant–Wall Interactions journal August 2012
Linking CO 2 Sorption Performance to Polymer Morphology in Aminopolymer/Silica Composites through Neutron Scattering journal September 2015
Self-Assembly of Silica Particles in a Nonionic Surfactant Hexagonal Mesophase journal February 2009
Lysozyme as a pH-Responsive Valve for the Controlled Release of Guest Molecules from Mesoporous Silica journal December 2012
The unit Problem in the Thermodynamic Calculation of Adsorption Using the Langmuir Equation journal June 2014
The Mechanisms for Nanoparticle Surface Diffusion and Chain Self-Assembly Determined from Real-Time Nanoscale Kinetics in Liquid journal August 2015
Simple rapid stabilization method through citric acid modification for magnetite nanoparticles journal July 2020
Nanospherical mesoporous carbon-supported gold as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst in the elimination of mass transport limitations journal July 2019
Salt-Induced Aggregation of Negatively Charged Gold Nanoparticles Confined in a Polymer Brush Matrix journal September 2017
Aggregation behaviour of gold nanoparticles in saline aqueous media journal April 2014
Transition Metal Oxide-Modified Ir Nanoparticles Supported on SBA-15 Silica for Selective Hydrogenation of Substituted Nitroaromatics journal July 2021
Controlled Deposition of Silver Nanoparticles in Mesoporous Single- or Multilayer Thin Films: From Tuned Pore Filling to Selective Spatial Location of Nanometric Objects journal December 2008
Removal of p-nitrophenol by a water-compatible hypercrosslinked resin functionalized with formaldehyde carbonyl groups and XAD-4 in aqueous solution: A comparative study journal April 2009
Multifunctional Mesoporous Composite Microspheres with Well-Designed Nanostructure: A Highly Integrated Catalyst System journal June 2010
General Description of the Adsorption of Proteins at Their Iso-electric Point in Nanoporous Materials journal October 2011
Seeding Growth for Size Control of 5−40 nm Diameter Gold Nanoparticles journal October 2001
Hindrance Factor Expression for Diffusion in Random Mesoporous Adsorbents Obtained from Pore-Scale Simulations in Physical Reconstructions journal February 2018
Is the Free Energy Change of Adsorption Correctly Calculated? journal July 2009
Core-Satellite Nanocomposite Catalysts Protected by a Porous Silica Shell: Controllable Reactivity, High Stability, and Magnetic Recyclability journal November 2008
Adsorption of Fatty Acid Molecules on Amine-Functionalized Silica Nanoparticles: Surface Organization and Foam Stability journal March 2020
Facile Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Stabilized by Cationic Polynorbornenes and Their Catalytic Activity in 4-Nitrophenol Reduction journal March 2013
Impact of Gold Nanoparticle Stabilizing Ligands on the Colloidal Catalytic Reduction of 4-Nitrophenol journal July 2016
Probing the Aggregation and Immune Response of Human Islet Amyloid Polypeptides with Ligand-Stabilized Gold Nanoparticles journal January 2019
An aptamer@AuNP-modified POSS–polyethylenimine hybrid affinity monolith with a high aptamer coverage density for sensitive and selective recognition of ochratoxin A journal January 2018
Diffusion Coefficients of Aromatics in Aqueous Solution journal November 2000
Electric-Field-Assisted Assembly of Polymer-Tethered Gold Nanorods in Cylindrical Nanopores journal April 2016
Synthesis and Characterization of High Concentration Block Copolymer-Mediated Gold Nanoparticles journal March 2011
Controllable Synthesis and Catalytic Performance of Gold Nanoparticles with Cucurbit[n]urils (n = 5–8) journal December 2018
Gold nanoparticles confined in ordered mesopores: Size effect and enhanced stability during gas-phase selective oxidation of cyclohexanol journal December 2017