(710f) The Preparation of GOld Catalysts with Strong Electrostatic Adsorption

Research into gold catalysis has catapulted forward in recent years by the breakthrough paper from Gorin et al. [1] on new and unique gold-catalyzed reactions. A recently developed method to rationally synthesize well dispersed metal particles has been termed Strong Electrostatic Adsorption (SEA). Recent literature reports give evidence that over both titania [2] and silica [3] the gold ethylene diamine cation adsorb electrostatically. To confirm and explore the generality of electrostatic adsorption of [Au(en)2]+3, the precursor was contacted with three different; amorphous and mesoporous silica, graphite, ceria, and medium and high surface area titania. Samples prepared by SEA were compared to samples prepared by traditional dry impregnation. Samples were analyzed by STEM ?z contrast? imagining for particle size and size distributions. The results showed that the SEA method can be applied with this precursor to synthesize well dispersed gold particles at relatively high loadings over various supports.

1. Gorin et al., Nature 446 (2007) 395.

2. Zanella et al., Catal. Today 107-108 (2005) 768.

3. Zhu et al., Appl. Catal. A: General 326 (2007) 89.