PolyHIPE materials are porous polymers obtained by mixing two immiscible liquids, where one is dispersed into the other in the form of droplets. Internal phase must constitute from at least 74% of volume of the total emulsion. The advantages of these materials are shown in separation processes, catalytic reactions, biomedicine, and microelectronics. In master’s thesis, we aimed to compare the catalytic activity of silver-coated polyHIPE supports with the same samples onto which gold was deposited by galvanic replacement. We used the reduction of 4-nitrophenol as a model reaction. After successfully synthesizing polyHIPE samples and a colloidal solution of silver nanoplates, we deposited silver nanoplate on samples using a pump. We also characterized the obtained samples and verified their catalytic activity. After that we pumped a solution of HAuCl4 through samples, that already contained silver nanoplates. We subsequently re-evaluated the catalytic activity of the samples through analyses. Samples, with addition of gold performed better catalytic activity compared to samples with silver nanoplates only.
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