Plasmonic acceleration of Nitrophenol reduction upon catalysis by robust gold nanoparticle donut assemblies

Herein, we report a highly stable and water-soluble gold nanoparticles assembly obtained by using a unique cyclic polysiloxane as the soluble support. The assembly is unprecedentedly stable in concentrated solutions of various electrolytes and thiol molecules, and exhibits noticeable catalytic activity for nitrophenol reduction, of which the rate is enhanced through the plasmonic resonance effect. It is also revealed that the light acceleration effect strongly depends on the interparticle distances. The assembly can be further engineered in terms of the inter-particle distances and chemical compositions for the utilization of the plasmonic effect in the future.