Fabrication of Multifunctional Core-Shell Structured Nanoreactors and Their Catalytic Performances

Abstract

With the development of nanotechnology, it has been possible to easily adjust the compositions, morphologies, and sizes of nanomaterials to control their properties. In order to endow nanomaterials with new functions and expand their applications in the fields of materials, chemistry, biology and medicine, it is very meaningful to develop new types of nanomaterials that can achieve multiple functions at the same time. One of the methods for obtaining multifunctional nanomaterials is achieved by coating the surface of simple nanoparticles with functional materials, and the resulting composite structure is called a core-shell structure. The core and shell of the core-shell structure can be composed of the same or different materials. By changing the compositions, structures and surface properties of the core and shell materials, the nanomaterials can be endowed with special optical, electrical, magnetic, catalytic, adsorption and biological activities. The hollow and yolk-shell structure can be formed by the controllable transformation of the core and the shell, in which the inner cavity can be used as a high-performance nanoreactor in various fields of catalysis. In this review, the design and application of core-shell structured nanoreactors with different structures in the field of catalysis are discussed, with emphases on the applications in catalytic degradation of dye pollutants, catalytic hydrogenation, catalytic oxidation, and catalytic cascade reactions. Finally, some prospects are put forward for the future research and development of multifunctional core-shell structured nanoreactors.