Fabrication and characterization of double-shelled CeO2-La2O3/Au/Fe3O4 hollow architecture as a recyclable and highly thermal stability nanocatalyst

A novel magnetic binary-metal-oxide-coated nanocataly composing of a hollow Fe 3 O 4 core and CeO 2 -La 2 O 3 shells with Au nanoparticles encapsulated has been created in this work. The structural features of catalysts were characterized by several techniques, including SEM, TEM, UV-vis, FTIR, XRD, XPS and TGA analyses. After the coating of CeO 2 -La 2 O 3 layer, CeO 2 -La 2 O 3 /Au/C/Fe 3 O 4 microspheres showed a superior thermal stability and catalytic reactivity compared with a pure CeO 2 or La 2 O 3 layer. Accompanied by the burning of carbon layer, the specific surface could be increased by the formation of double-shelled structure. Besides, the desired samples could be separated by magnet, implying the superior recycle performance. Using the reduction of 4-nitrophenol by NaBH 4 as a model reaction, the microspheres exhibited highly reusability, superior catalytic activity, thermal stability, which are attributed to the unique double-shelled structure of the support, uniform distribution of Au nanoparticles, the highly thermal stability of CeO 2 -La 2 O 3 layer and mixed oxide synergistic effect. As a consequence, the unique nanocatalyst will open a promising way in the fabrication of the double-shelled hollow binary-metal-oxide materials for future research and has great potential in other applications.