Au-BINOL Hybrid Nanocatalysts: Insights into the Structure-Based Enhancement of Catalytic and Photocatalytic Performance

Advances in new systems of organic–inorganic hybrid nanocomposites are less prevalent, owing to a lack of facile strategies for precise control of their structures, compositions, and, hence, their properties. In this work, Au-BINOL hybrid nanocomposites with eccentric and concentric nanostructures were produced. The hybrid nanocomposites containing two distinct moieties of inorganic Au nanocrystals and organic BINOL nanospheres were applied to the catalytic hydrogenation of 4-nitrophenol with NaBH₄ in the aqueous phase with and without the illumination of visible light. Here, we demonstrate that the existence of Au–BINOL interfaces offers benefits to their performance. The eccentric nanostructures made with CTAC show the superior activity from large Au–BINOL interfaces formed between the BINOL nanospheres and the faces of Au nanoplates. They further exhibit a high Au localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR)-enhancement effect on the photoreduction of 4-nitrophenol, which is attributed to the strong LSPR absorption of exposed Au nanocrystals unaffected by the coverage of BINOL shells.