Bacterial Cellulose Supported Gold Nanoparticles with Excellent Catalytic Properties

Abstract

Amidoxime surface functionalized bacterial cellulose (AOBC) has been successfully prepared by a simple two-step method without obviously changing the morphology of bacterial cellulose. AOBC has been used as the reducing agent and carrier for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) that distributed homogeneously on bacterial cellulose surface. Higher content in amidoxime groups in AOBC is beneficial for the synthesis of AuNPs with smaller and more uniform size. The AuNPs/AOBC nanohybrids have excellent catalytic activity for reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) by using NaBH4. It was found that catalytic activity of AuNPs/AOBC first increases with increasing NaBH4 concentration and temperature, and then leveled off at NaBH4 concentration above 238 mM and temperature above 50 °C. Moreover, AuNPs with smaller size have higher catalytic activity. The highest apparent turnover frequency of AuNPs/AOBC is 1190 h(-1). The high catalytic activity is due to the high affinity of 4-NP with AuNPs/AOBC and the reduced product 4-aminophenol has good solubility in water in the presence of AuNPs/AOBC. The catalytic stability of the AuNPs/AOBC was estimated by filling a fluid column contained AuNPs/AOBC and used for continuously catalysis of the reduction of 4-NP by using NaBH4. The column works well without detection of 4-NP in the eluent after running for more than two months, and it is still running. This work provides an excellent catalyst based on bacterial cellulose stabilized AuNPs and has promising applications in industry.

A biomolecular recognition approach for the functionalization of cellulose with gold nanoparticles

“…Many reports describe that the presence of AuNPs within cellulose may add new optical, electronic, and chemical properties, which can be explored for the development of applications in a range of fields, eg, biomedical materials, electronic devices, and sensor technology. For example, it has been shown that (1) surface‐enhanced Raman scattering signals obtained in the context of sensing applications are enhanced if paper, threads, and nanofibers are modified with AuNPs; (2) composite films made by the co‐assembly of cellulose nanocrystals and shape‐isotropic plasmonic AuNPs retain photonic crystal and chiroptical activity properties; (3) AuNP‐nanocellulose composites can be used as platforms for enzyme immobilization (4) AuNPs synthesized in situ on the surface of bacterial cellulose have excellent catalytic activity and stability; (5) paper‐based AuNP electrode arrays display electrochemical properties adequate for developing thin‐film gas sensors; (6) AuNP‐modified cellulose ester membranes can be coupled with laser‐induced desorption/ionization mass spectrometry for the detection of arsenic(III) ions; (7) capillary coatings made of quaternized cellulose‐supported AuNPs enhance protein separation by capillary electrophoresis; and (8) colorimetric bioassays can be set up by incorporating AuNP‐based signal‐transducing in paper …”

“…In general, the methodologies used to prepare cellulose‐AuNP materials involve either the in situ reduction of gold(III) chloride hydrate with agents like sodium borohydride, poly(ethyleneimine), lecithin, thiol, or amidoxime modified cellulose or the adsorption/deposition of pre‐synthesized AuNPs onto the materials of interest. More recently, Guo et al have resorted to a click chemistry strategy to covalently immobilize AuNPs on carbon nanofibers …”

Fabrication of Light-triggered AuNP/CNC/SMP Nano-Composites

“…For example, Zhang and Zhao (2013) uniformly dispersed AuNPs in chloroform by polycarlactonefunctionalized modification of the AuNPs and then prepared the optically-triggered shapememory composite material. Besides the miscellaneous chemical modification of AuNPs, some researchers propose a green method for the synthesis and stabilization of AuNPs (Kim 2012;Chiu and Huang 2013;Chen et al 2015). In this method, CNC is used as a stabilizer and template agent to prepare CNC-functionalized AuNP (AuNP/CNC) and to prevent AuNP aggregation.…”

“…In this method, CNC is used as a stabilizer and template agent to prepare CNC-functionalized AuNP (AuNP/CNC) and to prevent AuNP aggregation. The prepared AuNP/CNC nanocomposites have been applied to catalysis (Chen et al 2015), biomedicine (Chiu and Huang 2013), or electronic devices (Kim 2012).…”

Gold nanoparticle layers from multi‐step adsorption immobilised on a polymer surface during injection molding

“…The catalytic activity of gold was investigated extensively . Gold exhibits catalytic activity for a broad diversity of reactions, e.g., hydrogenations, reactions involving carbon monoxide, oxidations and reductions, and addition reactions . Only recently, gold catalysts are investigated for the photo‐catalytic cleavage of water.…”