Nanogold Supported Titania Loaded SBA-15: An Efficient Catalyst for Reduction of 4-Nitrophenol

Gold nanoparticles with an average particle size below 5 nm were effectively dispersed over titania loaded SBA-15. The nanogold supported systems were found to be highly effective in the liquid phase reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol at room temperature (304 K) obeying pseudo-first-order kinetics. The highly effective catalyst with 3 wt.% Au incorporation to 20 wt.% Ti loaded SBA-15 (3Au/20Ti/SBA) showed a TON of 5.8 × 1021 molecules/g and a TOF of 6.5 × 1018 molecules/g/s in the reaction.