Sintering-resistant Au/iron oxide-hydroxyapatite nanocatalysts achieved by tuning strong metal-support interactions

Supported gold nanocatalysts have been treated as extraordinarily effective catalysts in heterogeneous catalysis field. However, their poor thermodynamic stability in reactions at elevated temperature remains to be resolved for practical applications. The strong metal-support interaction (SMSI), a vital concept in chemical industry, can be applied to design catalysts and enhance their catalytic performances. Herein, we reported a sintering-resistant gold catalyst by anchoring Au nanoparticles at the interface between Fe2O3 and hydroxyapatite, in which one side of the Au nanoparticles was partially encapsulated while the other side was exposed. Owing to the strong metal-support interaction between Au and support, the resultant gold nanocatalyst was anti-sintering and presented remarkable activity and durability after calcination at 600 °C compared with commercial gold catalyst denoted as RR2Fe, providing a promising strategy to stabilize gold catalysts, especially for oxidation reactions at high temperature.