One-Step Pyrolysis Preparation of 1.1.1 Oriented Gold Nanoplatelets Supported on Graphene and Six Orders of Magnitude Enhancement of the Resulting Catalytic Activity

Pyrolysis of chitosan films containing Au3+ renders 1.1.1 oriented Au nanoplatelets (20 nm lateral size, 3–4 nm height) on a few layers of N‐doped graphene (${\overline {{\rm{Au}}} }$/fl‐G), while the lateral sides were 0.0.1 oriented. Comparison of the catalytic activity of ${\overline {{\rm{Au}}} }$/fl‐G films with powders of unoriented Au NPs supported on graphene showed that ${\overline {{\rm{Au}}} }$/fl‐G films exhibit six orders of magnitude enhancement for three gold‐catalyzed reactions, namely, Ullmann‐like homocoupling, CN cross coupling, and the oxidative coupling of benzene to benzoic acid. This enhancement is the result of the defined morphology, facet orientation of Au nanocrystals, and strong gold‐graphene interaction. Easy gold–graphene nanohybrid catalysts: Graphene and 1.1.1 facet‐oriented Au nanoparticles form simultaneously upon pyrolysis of chitosan‐embedding AuCl4−, and exhibit high catalytic activity.