Preparation of TiO2 Supported Gold Nano-Clusters by Photo-Deposition

TiO2 supported gold clusters are prepared by photo-deposition method. The effect of preparation parameters on the size and morphology of gold clusters are investigated. The as-prepared Au/TiO2 samples are characterized by means of ICP, XRD and TEM. Au/TiO2 samples with different gold cluster sizes are studied as possible catalysts in the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde and smaller gold clusters are observed to exhibit higher catalytic activity.