The catalyst of highly dispersed gold nanoparticle supported on active carbon was prepared by sodium citrate reduction-colloid gold immobilization method, and its catalytic activity was evaluated by the liquid phase catalytic oxidation reaction of glucose to gluconic acid. The research results show that the sodium citrate amounts have important influence on the size of gold particles in gold colloidal preparation and the catalytic activity of Au/C catalyst obtained. The decrease of the activity for repeatedly used Au/C catalyst may be attributed to the decrease of the Au^δ＋-O^δ－ binding state on the catalyst surface. At the same time the catalytic activity for the liquid phase oxidation of glucose was compared between the prepared Au/C catalyst and the commercial Pd/C catalyst, and the results indicated that the Au/C catalyst was advantageous over Pd/C catalyst.

Key words: Au/C catalyst, preparation, characterization, catalytic activity, glucose