Green synthesis of gold nanoparticles using aspartame and their catalytic activity for p-nitrophenol reduction.
Shufen Wu, Songjing Yan, Wei Qi, Renliang Huang, Jing Cui, Rongxin Su, Zhimin He
Author Information
Shufen Wu: State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072 People's Republic of China.
Songjing Yan: State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072 People's Republic of China.
Wei Qi: State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072 People's Republic of China ; Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin, 300072 People's Republic of China ; Tianjin Key Laboratory of Membrane Science and Desalination Technology, Tianjin, 300072 People's Republic of China.
Renliang Huang: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072 People's Republic of China.
Jing Cui: Department of Bioengineering, College of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210009 People's Republic of China.
Rongxin Su: State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072 People's Republic of China ; Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin, 300072 People's Republic of China ; Tianjin Key Laboratory of Membrane Science and Desalination Technology, Tianjin, 300072 People's Republic of China.
Zhimin He: State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072 People's Republic of China ; Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin, 300072 People's Republic of China.
We demonstrated a facile and environmental-friendly approach to form gold nanoparticles through the reduction of HAuCl4 by aspartame. The single-crystalline structure was illustrated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) results indicated that aspartame played a pivotal role in the reduction and stabilization of the gold crystals. The crystals were stabilized through the successive hydrogen-bonding network constructed between the water and aspartame molecules. Additionally, gold nanoparticles synthesized through aspartame were shown to have good catalytic activity for the reduction of p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol in the presence of NaBH4.
