Interfacial self-assembly of gold nanoparticle-polymer nanoconjugates into microcapsules with near-infrared light modulated biphasic catalysis efficiency.

A high throughput way to generate gold nanoparticle-based microcapsules was demonstrated based on the interfacial assembly in a water and 2-ethyl-1-hexanol two phase system. The obtained gold microcapsules exhibit superior stability, good flexibility, ductility, and a significant enhancement (about 10-fold) in the biphasic catalytic reaction rate upon near-infrared light irradiation.