Nanostructures: Gold Nanorod@TiO₂ Yolk‐Shell Nanostructures for Visible‐Light‐Driven Photocatalytic Oxidation of Benzyl Alcohol (Small 16/2015)

Selective oxidation of alcohols to corresponding aldehydes and ketones is an essential process for the synthesis of various chemicals. J. Gong and co-workers describe the design and synthesis of gold nanorod@TiO2 yolk–shell catalysts via an improved silica template method as an efficient visible light-driven photocatalyst. On page 1892, with a hollow TiO2 shell and a tunable cylindrical gold core, the catalyst exhibits a high surface area and wide absorption range from UV to NIR. A remarkable photochemical activity is obtained when such catalyst applied to the oxidation of benzyl alcohol.