Ultrafine Au and Ag Nanoparticles Synthesized from Self-Assembled Peptide Fibers and Their Excellent Catalytic Activity

The self-assembly of an amphiphilic peptide molecule to form nanofibers facilitated by Ag+ ions was investigated. Ultrafine AgNPs (NPs = nanoparticles) with an average size of 1.67 nm were synthesized in situ along the fibers due to the weak reducibility of the -SH group on the peptide molecule. By adding NaBH4 to the peptide solution, ultrafine AgNPs and AuNPs were synthesized with an average size of 1.35 and 1.18 nm, respectively. The AuNPs, AgNPs, and AgNPs/nanofibers all exhibited excellent catalytic activity toward the reduction of 4-nitro-phenol, with turnover frequency (TOF) values of 720, 188, and 96 h(-1), respectively. Three dyes were selected for catalytic degradation by the prepared nanoparticles and the nanoparticles showed selective catalysis activity toward the different dyes. It was a surprising discovery that the ultrafine AuNPs in this work had an extremely high catalytic activity toward methylene blue, with a reaction rate constant of 0.21 s(-1) and a TOF value of 1899 h(-1).