Facile preparation of Au nanoparticle-embedded polydopamine hollow microcapsule and its catalytic activity for the reduction of methylene blue

Abstract

Development of novel supported catalysts with high activity and stability is still a challenge. In this study, the Au-polydopamine (Au-PDA) hollow microcapsules with Au nanoparticles embedded into the PDA microcapsule shell have been synthesized through a simple template-induced covalent assembly method, where polystyrene (PS) nanospheres were used as templates to form core/shell structured PS/Au-PDA composites, followed by core removal through tetrahydrofuran etching. Their morphology and composition were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), UV-Vis spectrophotometer and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. Results showed that the Au-PDA microcapsules possessed well-fined hollow structure and uniform sizes with inner diameter of about 385?nm, shell thickness of about 30?nm, and Au nanoparticles with diameter of about 17?nm incorporated. The catalytic performance of Au-PDA hollow microcapsules was evaluated through the reduction of methylene blue (MB) dye with NaBH₄ as a reducing agent. Compared to PDA/Au composites with Au nanoparticles loaded on the surface of PDA microspheres, as-prepared Au-PDA hollow microcapsules show good stability and recyclability in the catalytic experiments as the Au nanoparticles were firmly wrapped in PDA matrix, which makes the Au-PDA hollow microcapsules a practicable catalyst candidate for advanced catalytic systems.