Rational design of dumbbell-like Au-Fe3O4@Carbon yolk@shell nanospheres with superior catalytic activity

Abstract Dumbbell-like Au-Fe3O4 nanoparticles are emerging as attractive nanocatalysts in recent years. However, they still suffer from the instability related activity attenuation. Herein, dumbbell-like Au-Fe3O4 nanoparticles encapsulated in N-doped carbon shell (Au-Fe3O4@Carbon) as novel yolk@shell nanocatalysts were synthesized via template assisted method, with which the yolk@shell scaffolds and even the diameter of the hollow space is totally designable. The yolk@shell structured Au-Fe3O4@Carbon was demonstrated to exhibit high stability and enhanced activity towards the reduction of 4-nitrophenol. Moreover, 100% yield was determined for the benzhydrol oxidation reaction taking advantage of the as prepared Au-Fe3O4@Carbon yolk@shell nanocatalysts. Furthermore, the Au-Fe3O4@Carbon nanocatalysts presented herein exhibit superior recyclability, which laid the foundation for its practical application. The mechanism for the enhanced catalytic behavior were clearly addressed. It is anticipated that the elaborate design of this work can lead to the exploration of novel nanocatalysts with superior catalytic performance.