10.1021/acs.inorgchem.8b02197.s001 Yali Liu Yali Liu Tu-Nan Gao Tu-Nan Gao Xi Chen Xi Chen Kaiqian Li Kaiqian Li Yali Ma Yali Ma Hailong Xiong Hailong Xiong Zhen-An Qiao Zhen-An Qiao Mesoporous Metal Oxide Encapsulated Gold Nanocatalysts: Enhanced Activity for Catalyst Application to Solvent-Free Aerobic Oxidation of Hydrocarbons American Chemical Society 2018 ultrasmall gold nanoparticles gold nanoparticles Enhanced Activity mesoporous ZnO nanospheres mesoporous metal oxide Catalyst Application Mesoporous Metal Oxide Encapsulated Gold Nanocatalysts chemical stability 10 times gold nanoparticle size self-assembly method Solvent-Free Aerobic Oxidation indane oxidation conversion efficiency metal oxide 2018-10-02 13:24:22 Journal contribution https://acs.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Mesoporous_Metal_Oxide_Encapsulated_Gold_Nanocatalysts_Enhanced_Activity_for_Catalyst_Application_to_Solvent-Free_Aerobic_Oxidation_of_Hydrocarbons/7157078 Here, we present a series of experimental studies to encapsulate ultrasmall gold nanoparticles into mesoporous metal oxide via an in situ self-assembly method. Notably, the 2.0Au@mZnO catalyst (∼2.0 nm gold nanoparticles loading on mesoporous ZnO nanospheres) shows excellent catalytic activity for indane oxidation (120 °C, conversion 88.5%) and affords much high turnover frequencies (9521 h<sup>–1</sup>). The catalytic activity of these gold-based catalysts was found to be correlated with the size of gold nanoparticles and the types of metal oxide supports. With a decrease in gold nanoparticle size, the catalytic conversion efficiency of indane oxidation increased. In addition, such catalysts possessed high thermal and chemical stability and could be reused more than 10 times without a remarkable loss of catalytic activity.