High-efficiency and magnetically separable nanocatalyst: β-cyclodextrin modified core–shell hybrid magnetic nanoparticles

A novel hybrid magnetic nanoparticle, which was fabricated by Fe3O4 nanoparticle modified with β-cyclodextrin (Fe3O4@SiO2-GPTSCD), was prepared via a flexible method, including thermal decomposition, sol–gel process and ring-opening reaction of epoxy group. The structures had been characterized by fourier transform infrared spectra, transmission electron microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The magnetic property of the resulting nanoparticles was kept, that they could be used for magnetic separation. Most excitingly, they showed high-efficiency catalytic activity with sodium hypochlorite and hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant in selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol, even higher than pure β-cyclodextrin (CD). It suggests that the hybrid nanoparticles are expected to be applied in more extensive fields, due to the combination of the activity of CD immobilized on the surface of nanoparticles and the characteristic of nanomaterials.