High performance of carbon nanotubes confining gold nanoparticles for selective hydrogenation of 1,3-butadiene and cinnamaldehyde

► Au/CNTs with Au nanoparticles of 2-5 nm were prepared by the gold colloid method. ► The ratio of gold nanoparticles filled inside nanotubes to the total was different. ► CNTs-confined Au nanoparticles show high performance for hydrogenation reactions.