One-phase synthesis of small gold nanoparticles coated by a horizontal porphyrin monolayer.

One-pot reduction of HAuCl4 in a DMF solution containing a porphyrin-cored tetradentate passivant gives horizontal porphyrin monolayer-coated gold nanoparticles, whose particle size is significantly smaller than that made by using monodentate passivants under identical conditions.

Microreactor utilizing a vertically-aligned carbon nanotube array grown inside the channels.

We have fabricated a microreactor incorporating vertically-aligned carbon nanotubes supporting Pt nanoparticles and found that the presence of aligned nanotubes significantly enhances the catalytic reaction and extends the catalyst lifetime as compared with conventional microreactors using a Pt metal film or Pt nanoparticles directly deposited on the channel walls.