Importance of Size and Contact Structure of Gold Nanoparticles for the Genesis of Unique Catalytic Processes.

Since the discovery of catalysis by Au nanoparticles (NPs), unique catalytic features of Au have appeared that are greatly different from those of Pd and Pt. In this Review, we aimed to disclose how the unique catalytic abilities of Au are generated with respect to (a) the contact structures between Au and its supports and (b) the size of the Au particles. For CO oxidation, the catalytic activity of Au on reducible metal oxides (MOx) is strongly correlated with the amount of oxygen vacancies of the MOx surface, which play a key role in O2 activation. Single atoms, bilayers of Au, sub-nm clusters, clusters (1-2 nm), and NPs (2-5 nm) have been proposed as the active sizes of the Au species, which may depend on the type of support. For propylene epoxidation, the presence of isolated TiO4 units in SiO2 supports is important for the production of propylene oxide (PO). Au NPs facilitate the formation of Ti-OOH species, which leads to PO in the presence of H2 and O2, whereas Au clusters facilitate propylene hydrogenation. However, Au clusters can produce PO by using only O2 and water, whereas Au NPs cannot. For alcohol oxidation, the reducibility of the MOx supports greatly influences the catalytic activity of Au, and single Au atoms more effectively activate the lattice oxygen of CeO2. The basic and acidic sites of the MOx surface also play an important role in the deprotonation of alcohols and the activation of aldehydes, respectively. For selective hydrogenation, heterolytic dissociation of H2 takes place at the interface between Au and MOx, and the basic sites of MOx contribute to H2 activation. Recent research into the reaction mechanisms and the development of well-designed Au catalysts has provided new insights into the preparation of high-performance Au catalysts.

Carbon Monoxide Oxidation by Polyoxometalate-Supported Gold Nanoparticulate Catalysts: Activity, Stability, and Temperature- Dependent Activation Properties.

Nanoparticulate gold supported on a Keggin-type polyoxometalate (POM), Cs4 [α-SiW12 O40 ]⋅n H2 O, was prepared by the sol immobilization method. The size of the gold nanoparticles (NPs) was approximately 2 nm, which was almost the same as the size of the gold colloid precursor. Deposition of gold NPs smaller than 2 nm onto POM (Au/POM) was essential for a high catalytic activity for CO oxidation. The temperature for 50 % CO conversion was -67 °C. The catalyst showed extremely high stability for at least one month at 0 °C with full conversion. The catalytic activity and the reaction mechanism drastically changed at temperatures higher than 40 °C, showing a unique behavior called a U-shaped curve. It was revealed by IR measurement that Auδ+ was a CO adsorption site and that adsorbed water promoted CO oxidation for the Au/POM catalyst. This is the first report on CO oxidation utilizing Au/POMs catalysts, and there is a potential for expansion to various gas-phase reactions.

Maximizing the Number of Interfacial Sites in Single-Atom Catalysts for the Highly Selective, Solvent-Free Oxidation of Primary Alcohols.

The solvent-free selective oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes with molecular oxygen is highly attractive yet challenging. Interfacial sites between a metal and an oxide support are crucial in determining the activity and selectivity of such heterogeneous catalysts. Herein, we demonstrate that the use of supported single-atom catalysts (SACs) leads to high activity and selectivity in this reaction. The significantly increased number of interfacial sites, resulting from the presence of individually dispersed metal atoms on the support, renders SACs one or two orders of magnitude more active than the corresponding nanoparticle (NP) catalysts. Lattice oxygen atoms activated at interfacial sites were found to be more selective than O2 activated on metal NPs in oxidizing the alcohol substrate. This work demonstrates for the first time that the number of interfacial sites is maximized in SACs, providing a new avenue for improving catalytic performance by developing appropriate SACs for alcohol oxidation and other reactions occurring at metal-support interfacial sites.

ZnAl-Hydrotalcite-Supported Au25 Nanoclusters as Precatalysts for Chemoselective Hydrogenation of 3-Nitrostyrene.

Chemoselective hydrogenation of 3-nitrostyrene to 3-vinylaniline is quite challenging because of competitive activation of the vinyl group and the nitro group over most supported precious-metal catalysts. A precatalyst comprised of thiolated Au25 nanoclusters supported on ZnAl-hydrotalcite yielded gold catalysts of a well-controlled size (ca. 2.0 nm)-even after calcination at 500 °C. The catalyst showed excellent selectivity (>98 %) with respect to 3-vinylaniline, and complete conversion of 3-nitrostyrene over broad reaction duration and temperature windows. This result is unprecedented for gold catalysts. In contrast to traditional catalysts, the gold catalyst is inert with respect to the vinyl group and is only active with regard to the nitro group, as demonstrated by the results of the control experiments and attenuated total reflection infrared spectra. The findings may extend to design of gold catalysts with excellent chemoselectivity for use in the synthesis of fine chemicals.

Advances in Gold Catalysis and Understanding the Catalytic Mechanism.

When gold is deposited as nanoparticles (NPs) with mean diameters of 2-5 nm or clusters with mean diameters below 2 nm onto a variety of supports such as metal oxides, carbons, polymers, etc., the supported Au NPs exhibit unique catalytic properties, while bulk Au is almost inert as a catalyst. A lot of research works indicate that the key factors of the catalysis by supported Au NPs are the selection of the supports, the control of the Au NP size, the shape of the Au NPs, and the strong junction between Au NPs and the supports, because the perimeter zone around Au NPs acts as the active site for many reactions. In order to elucidate the origin of catalysis by supported Au NPs, the interplay between physicochemical analysis, computational studies, and rational experiments for catalysis by supported Au NPs is becoming more and more important. This article summarizes our experiences and progress in such interplay.

Low-temperature oxidation of CO catalysed by Co(3)O(4) nanorods.

Low-temperature oxidation of CO, perhaps the most extensively studied reaction in the history of heterogeneous catalysis, is becoming increasingly important in the context of cleaning air and lowering automotive emissions. Hopcalite catalysts (mixtures of manganese and copper oxides) were originally developed for purifying air in submarines, but they are not especially active at ambient temperatures and are also deactivated by the presence of moisture. Noble metal catalysts, on the other hand, are water tolerant but usually require temperatures above 100 degrees C for efficient operation. Gold exhibits high activity at low temperatures and superior stability under moisture, but only when deposited in nanoparticulate form on base transition-metal oxides. The development of active and stable catalysts without noble metals for low-temperature CO oxidation under an ambient atmosphere remains a significant challenge. Here we report that tricobalt tetraoxide nanorods not only catalyse CO oxidation at temperatures as low as -77 degrees C but also remain stable in a moist stream of normal feed gas. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy demonstrates that the Co(3)O(4) nanorods predominantly expose their {110} planes, favouring the presence of active Co(3+) species at the surface. Kinetic analyses reveal that the turnover frequency associated with individual Co(3+) sites on the nanorods is similar to that of the conventional nanoparticles of this material, indicating that the significantly higher reaction rate that we have obtained with a nanorod morphology is probably due to the surface richness of active Co(3+) sites. These results show the importance of morphology control in the preparation of base transition-metal oxides as highly efficient oxidation catalysts.

Electron microscopy study of gold nanoparticles deposited on transition metal oxides.

Many researchers have investigated the catalytic performance of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) supported on metal oxides for various catalytic reactions of industrial importance. These studies have consistently shown that the catalytic activity and selectivity depend on the size of GNPs, the kind of metal oxide supports, and the gold/metal oxide interface structure. Although researchers have proposed several structural models for the catalytically active sites and have identified the specific electronic structures of GNPs induced by the quantum effect, recent experimental and theoretical studies indicate that the perimeter around GNPs in contact with the metal oxide supports acts as an active site in many reactions. Thus, it is of immense importance to investigate the detailed structures of the perimeters and the contact interfaces of gold/metal oxide systems by using electron microscopy at an atomic scale. This Account describes our investigation, at the atomic scale using electron microscopy, of GNPs deposited on metal oxides. In particular, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) are valuable tools to observe local atomic structures, as has been successfully demonstrated for various nanoparticles, surfaces, and material interfaces. TEM can be applied to real powder catalysts as received without making special specimens, in contrast to what is typically necessary to observe bulk materials. For precise structure analyses at an atomic scale, model catalysts prepared by using well-defined single-crystalline substrates are also adopted for TEM observations. Moreover, aberration-corrected TEM, which has high spatial resolution under 0.1 nm, is a promising tool to observe the interface structure between GNPs and metal oxide supports including oxygen atoms at the interfaces. The oxygen atoms in particular play an important role in the behavior of gold/metal oxide interfaces, because they may participate in catalytic reaction steps. Detailed information about the interfacial structures between GNPs and metal oxides provides valuable structure models for theoretical calculations which can elucidate the local electronic structure effective for activating a reactant molecule. Based on our observations with HRTEM and HAADF-STEM, we report the detailed structure of gold/metal oxide interfaces.

Stepwise displacement of catalytically active gold nanoparticles on cerium oxide.

Aberration-corrected environmental transmission electron microscopy (ETEM) proved that catalytically active gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) move reversibly and stepwise by approximately 0.09 nm on a cerium oxide (CeO2) support surface at room temperature and in a reaction environment. The lateral displacements and rotations occur back and forth between equivalent sites, indicating that AuNPs are loosely bound to oxygen-terminated CeO2 and may migrate on the surface with low activation energy. The AuNPs are likely anchored to oxygen-deficient sites. Observations indicate that the most probable activation sites in gold nanoparticulate catalysts, which are the perimeter interfaces between an AuNP and a support, are not structurally rigid.

Chance and necessity: my encounter with gold catalysts.

"Have you tried gold?" This question after a presentation on hydrogen oxidation steered Masatake Haruta's research on heterogeneous catalysis. He found that gold combined with 3d transition metal oxides could exhibit surprisingly high catalytic activity for carbon monoxide oxidation at temperatures as low as 203 K.

Selective formation of acetate intermediate prolongs robust ethylene removal at 0 °C for 15 days.

Efficient ethylene (C2H4) removal below room temperatures, especially near 0 °C, is of great importance to suppress that the vegetables and fruits spoil during cold-chain transportation and storage. However, no catalysts have been developed to fulfill the longer-than-2-h C2H4 removal at this low temperature effectively. Here we prepare gold-platinum (Au-Pt) nanoalloy catalysts that show robust C2H4 (of 50 ppm) removal capacity at 0 °C for 15 days (360 h). We find, by virtue of operando Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy and online temperature-programmed desorption equipped mass spectrometry, that the Au-Pt nanoalloys favor the formation of acetate from selective C2H4 oxidation. And this on-site-formed acetate intermediate would partially cover the catalyst surface at 0 °C, thus exposing active sites to prolong the continuous and effective C2H4 removal. We also demonstrate, by heat treatment, that the performance of the used catalysts will be fully recovered for at least two times.

Gold/Substituted Hydroxyapatites for Oxidative Esterification: Control of Thin Apatite Layer on Gold Based on Strong Metal-Support Interaction (SMSI) Results in High Activity.

Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) deposited on various cation- and anion-substituted hydroxyapatites (Au/sHAPs) show oxidative strong metal-support interaction (SMSI), wherein a thin layer of the sHAP covered the surface of the Au NPs by heat treatment in an oxidative atmosphere. Calcination of Au/sHAPs at 300 °C caused a partial SMSI and that at 500 °C gave fully encapsulated Au NPs. We investigated the influence of the substituted ions in sHAP and the degree of the oxidative SMSI on the catalytic performance of Au/sHAPs for oxidative esterification of octanal or 1-octanol with ethanol to obtain ethyl octanoate. The catalytic activity depends on the size of the Au NPs but not on the support used, owing to the similarity of the acid and base properties of sHAPs except for Au/CaFAP. The presence of a large number of acidic sites on CaFAP lowered the product selectivity, but all other sHAPs exhibited similar activity when the Au particle size was almost the same, owing to the similarity of the acid and base properties. Au/sHAPs_O2 with SMSI exhibited higher catalytic activity than Au/sHAPs_H2 without SMSI despite the fact that the number of exposed surface Au atoms was decreased by the SMSI. In addition, the oxidative esterification reaction proceeded even though the Au NPs were fully covered by the sHAP layer when the thickness of the layer was controlled to be less than 1 nm. The substrate can access the surfaces of the Au NPs covered by the thin sHAP layer (<1 nm), and the presence of the sHAP structure in close contact with the Au NPs resulted in significantly higher catalytic activity compared with that for fully exposed Au NPs deposited on the sHAPs. This result suggests that maximizing the contact area between the Au NPs and the sHAP support based on the SMSI enhances the catalytic activity of Au.

Catalytically highly active top gold atom on palladium nanocluster.

Catalysis using gold is emerging as an important field of research in connection with 'green' chemistry. Several hypotheses have been presented to explain the markedly high activities of Au catalysts. So far, the origin of the catalytic activities of supported Au catalysts can be assigned to the perimeter interfaces between Au nanoclusters and the support. However, the genesis of the catalytic activities of colloidal Au-based bimetallic nanoclusters is unclear. Moreover, it is still a challenge to synthesize Au-based colloidal catalysts with high activity. Here we now present the 'crown-jewel' concept (Supplementary Fig. S1) for preparation of catalytically highly Au-based colloidal catalysts. Au-Pd colloidal catalysts containing an abundance of top (vertex or corner) Au atoms were synthesized according to the strategy on a large scale. Our results indicate that the genesis of the high activity of the catalysts could be ascribed to the presence of negatively charged top Au atoms.

Intrinsic catalytic structure of gold nanoparticles supported on TiO2.

Despite the fragility of TiO(2) under electron irradiation, the intrinsic structure of Au/TiO(2) catalysts can be observed by environmental transmission electron microscopy. Under reaction conditions (CO/air 100 Pa), the major {111} and {100} facets of the gold nanoparticles are exposed and the particles display a polygonal interface with the TiO(2) support bounded by sharp edges parallel to the 〈110〉 directions.

Synergistic catalysis of Au@Ag core-shell nanoparticles stabilized on metal-organic framework.

For the first time, this work presents Au@Ag core-shell nanoparticles (NPs) immobilized on a metal-organic framework (MOF) by a sequential deposition-reduction method. The small-size Au@Ag NPs reveal the restriction effects of the pore/surface structure in the MOF. The modulation of the Au/Ag ratio can tune the composition and a reversed Au/Ag deposition sequence changes the structure of Au-Ag NPs, while a posttreatment process transforms the core-shell NPs to a AuAg alloy. Catalytic studies show a strong bimetallic synergistic effect of core-shell structured Au@Ag NPs, which have much higher catalytic activities than alloy and monometallic NPs.

Anti-inflammatory effect of gold nanoparticles supported on metal oxides.

Gold (Au) can be deposited as nanoparticles (NPs) smaller than 10 nm in diameter on a variety of metal oxide (MOx) NPs. Au/MOx have high catalytic performance and selective oxidation capacity which could have implications in terms of biological activity, and more specifically in modulation of the inflammatory reaction. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the effect of Au/TiO2, Au/ZrO2 and Au/CeO2 on viability, phagocytic capacity and inflammatory profile (TNF-α and IL-1ß secretion) of murine macrophages. The most important result of this study is an anti-inflammatory effect of Au/MOx depending on the MOx nature with particle internalization and no alteration of cell viability and phagocytosis. The effect was dependent on the MOx NPs chemical nature (Au/TiO2 > Au/ZrO2 > Au/CeO2 if we consider the number of cytokines whose concentration was reduced by the NPs), and on the inflammatory mediator considered. The effect of Au/TiO2 NPs was not related to Au NPs size (at least in the case of Au/TiO2 NPs in the range of 3-8 nm). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of an anti-inflammatory effect of Au/MOx.

Bulk tungsten-substituted vanadium oxide for low-temperature NOx removal in the presence of water.

NH3-SCR (selective catalytic reduction) is important process for removal of NOx. However, water vapor included in exhaust gases critically inhibits the reaction in a low temperature range. Here, we report bulk W-substituted vanadium oxide catalysts for NH3-SCR at a low temperature (100-150 °C) and in the presence of water (~20 vol%). The 3.5 mol% W-substituted vanadium oxide shows >99% (dry) and ~93% (wet, 5-20 vol% water) NO conversion at 150 °C (250 ppm NO, 250 ppm NH3, 4% O2, SV = 40000 mL h-1 gcat-1). Lewis acid sites of W-substituted vanadium oxide are converted to Brønsted acid sites under a wet condition while the distribution of Brønsted and Lewis acid sites does not change without tungsten. NH4+ species adsorbed on Brønsted acid sites react with NO accompanied by the reduction of V5+ sites at 150 °C. The high redox ability and reactivity of Brønsted acid sites are observed for bulk W-substituted vanadium oxide at a low temperature in the presence of water, and thus the catalytic cycle is less affected by water vapor.

One-step seeding growth of magnetically recyclable Au@Co core-shell nanoparticles: highly efficient catalyst for hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane.

Magnetically recyclable Au@Co core-shell nanoparticles were successfully synthesized in a one-step seeding-growth process within a few minutes. They were thermally stable and exhibited higher catalytic activity toward the dehydrogenation of ammonia borane than Au-Co alloy and the pure metal counterparts. This is a large enhancement in the catalytic activity of core-shell structured nanoparticles and will provide a new design principle for heterogeneous catalysis.

Bimetallic Au-Ni nanoparticles embedded in SiO2 nanospheres: synergetic catalysis in hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane.

Gold-nickel nanoparticles (NPs) of 3-4 nm diameter embedded in silica nanospheres of around 15 nm have been prepared by using [Au(en)(2)Cl(3)] and [Ni(NH(3))(6)Cl(2)] as precursors in a NP-5/cyclohexane reversed-micelle system, and by in situ reduction in an aqueous solution of NaBH(4)/NH(3)BH(3). Compared with monometallic Au@SiO(2) and Ni@SiO(2), the as-synthesized Au-Ni@SiO(2) catalyst shows higher catalytic activity and better durability in the hydrolysis of ammonia borane, generating a nearly stoichiometric amount of hydrogen. During the generation of H(2), the synergy effect between gold and nickel is apparent: The nickel species stabilizes the gold NPs and the existence of gold helps to improve the catalytic activity and durability of the nickel NPs.

Boosting the catalysis of gold by O2 activation at Au-SiO2 interface.

Supported gold (Au) nanocatalysts have attracted extensive interests in the past decades because of their unique catalytic properties for a number of key chemical reactions, especially in (selective) oxidations. The activation of O2 on Au nanocatalysts is crucial and remains a challenge because only small Au nanoparticles (NPs) can effectively activate O2. This severely limits their practical application because Au NPs inevitably sinter into larger ones during reaction due to their low Taman temperature. Here we construct a Au-SiO2 interface by depositing thin SiO2 layer onto Au/TiO2 and calcination at high temperatures and demonstrate that the interface can be not only highly sintering resistant but also extremely active for O2 activation. This work provides insights into the catalysis of Au nanocatalysts and paves a way for the design and development of highly active supported Au catalysts with excellent thermal stability.

Au@ZIF-8: CO oxidation over gold nanoparticles deposited to metal-organic framework.

Gold nanoparticles (NPs) were deposited to a zeolite-type metal-organic framework (MOF) by a simple solid grinding method. A catalyst, Au@ZIF-8, represents the first example of an active catalyst in CO oxidation by using a MOF as a novel support for noble metal NPs. The catalytic activity for CO oxidation is improved along with increasing Au loadings, and the highest catalytic activity is obtained for 5.0 wt % Au@ZIF-8, which presents half conversion of CO at approximately 170 degrees C. Gold NPs are close to being monodisperse and have no aggregation during catalytic reaction, and the catalytic activity is reproducible.