Yolk–Shell Nanoarchitectures with a Ru-Containing Core and a Radially Oriented Mesoporous Silica Shell: Facile Synthesis and Application for One-Pot Biomass Conversion by Combining with Enzyme

In this paper, we develop a facile strategy for fabricating a yolk–shell structured catalytic system that consists of a core made of Ru supported on mesoporous carbon, which is encaged within a silica shell that has ordered radial mesochannels. A region-selective etching mechanism for the formation of the yolk–shell nanoarchitectures is proposed based on the stronger adsorption ability of the carbon core for etching agent than that of the silica shell for etching agent. By combining such material with amyloglucosidase, one-pot hydrolysis–hydrogenation of dextrin to sorbitol can be conducted, delivering enhanced efficiency and showing great promise for biomass conversion applications.