Novel synthesis of Au nanoparticles using fluorescent carbon nitride dots as photocatalyst

The present paper reports on a novel synthesis for Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) with the use of fluorescent carbon nitride dots (CNDs) as a photocatalyst. It suggests that the resultant CND-protected AuNPs (CNDs/AuNPs) exhibit good catalytic activity toward 4-nitrophenol reduction and that the CNDs enhance the catalytic activity via a synergistic effect.