Gold nanoparticle-catalyzed reduction in a model system: Quantitative determination of reactive heterogeneity of a supported nanoparticle surface

Kinetic poisoning experiments employing organic ligands were conducted using a gold nanoparticle–catalyzed reaction consisting of the reduction of resazurin to resorufin. The kinetic contributions of three distinct types of sites along with the number density of each of these site types during reaction were determined. The calculated number densities of each of the three types of sites, hypothesized to be corners, edges, and terraces, correlates well with atomic-resolution micrographs of the supported gold nanoparticles, obtained using aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy and with predictions based on geometric models of idealized gold nanoparticles. The most active sites comprising 1% of the surface atoms exhibit at least 30% of the total activity of the catalyst for resazurin reduction. The selective mechanical blocking of surface sites on nanoparticles, particularly undercoordinated sites, paves the way for novel approaches utilizing organic ligands to quantify the activity of different active sites and control catalysis on metal surfaces.