A facile approach to Fe3O4@Au nanoparticles with magnetic recyclable catalytic properties

A novel approach has been developed to synthesize gold-coated iron oxide nanoparticles. Fe3O4 nanoparticles were initially prepared by co-precipitation method and subsequently coated with gold layer under oleylamine reduction of AuCl4− at room temperature. The core–shell nanoparticles showed magnetic recoverable catalytic activity for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol with NaBH4.