Synthesis, characterization, and catalytic performance of tiny au nanoparticles and -SO3H bifunctionalized thick-walled organosilicon nanotubes

In this paper, thick-walled organosilicon nanotubes, bi-functionalized with Au nanoparticles and -SO 3 H have been synthesized for the first time in a facile approach using the mixture of Pluronic surfactants P104(EO 27 PO 61 EO 27 ) and F108(EO 132 PO 50 EO 132 ). The wall thickness is up to about 6.0 nm. More importantly, the Au nanoparticles are quite stable and uniformly distributed inside the nanotubes, and their size distributions are mainly around 3.0–4.5 nm. The organosilicon nanotubes, combined with the ultra-nanosized Au nanoparticles along with synergistic effect of oxidizing -HS to -SO 3 H, acting as a Brønsted acid, resulted in the optimal composite, i.e. , Au-HS 0.3 /SO 3 H-Si-NTs(T), with a catalytic conversion efficiency of 100.0 % in the hydration reaction of phenylacetylene without any organic solvents and acids, which makes them have good application prospects in green organic synthesis.