Fabrication of strawberry-like Au@CeO2 nanoparticles with enhanced catalytic activity by assembly of block copolymer composite micelles

Abstract

In this study, novel strawberry-like Au@CeO₂ nanoparticles (NPs) were fabricated by assembly of block copolymer composite micelles via a redox reaction between Au(III) and Ce(III) followed by precipitation and calcination. These strawberry-like nanostructures were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, UV-vis spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and N₂ adsorption–desorption techniques. These strawberry-like Au@CeO₂ NPs were found to be composed of porous CeO₂ and several Au NPs set in the surfaces of the porous CeO₂ spheres. The catalytic degradation of methyl orange dye (MO) under ultrasonic irradiation was investigated. It was found that the activity of the strawberry-like Au@CeO₂ NPs was substantially higher than that of their porous counterparts. The new strawberry-like nanostructures may have potential applications in catalysis and adsorption.