Titania-decorated hybrid nano-architectures and their preliminary assessment in catalytic applications

Gold nanomaterials have been recognized as considerably active and effective catalysts toward several industrial and environmentally relevant reactions, among which are hydrocarbon selective oxidation, CO oxidation and propylene epoxidation. Engineered nanomaterials may be able to suppress some of the more severe issues that block their industrial applicability, such as recyclability, catalytic activity reduction during time due to sintering effects or leakage of the active material. In this regard, the composition of hybrid nanomaterials comprising encapsulated ultrasmall gold nanoparticles, also called ultrasmall-in-nano, will broaden and enhance their potential catalytic applications by including synergic features. Here, we report a systematic investigation on the design and production of optimized titania-decorated gold nano-architectures together with their efficiency evaluation on both formic acid (thermo/photo-induced) decomposition and cyclic carbonates formation by carbon dioxide fixation for carbon capture and storage technology. This work paves the way for the next development of ultrasmall-in-nano catalysts bearing an early–late transition metal combination for sustainable processes.