Direct deposition of gold nanoparticles onto polymer beads and glucose oxidation with H2O2

Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) were deposited directly from aqueous solution of diethylenediaminegold(III) complex onto polymer beads commercially available, such as poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polystyrene (PS), and polyaniline (PANI) without surface modification. The dropwise addition of NaBH4 to reduce Au(III) was found to be very effective to obtain small Au(0) NPs with a narrow size distribution except for PANI. The catalytic performance of Au NPs deposited on polymer beads for H2O2 decomposition and glucose oxidation with H2O2 were more significantly affected by the kinds of polymer supports than by the size of Au NPs. The equimolar oxidation of glucose with H2O2 could be operated by controlling the decomposition rate of H2O2 over Au/PMMA.

Graphical abstractThe choice of an Au precursor and the dropwise addition of a reductant yielded small Au NPs directly deposited onto polymers, which were active for glucose oxidation with H2O2.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide