A novel strategy to construct supported silver nanocomposite as an ultra-high efficient catalyst

• A controllable and green methodology to construct supported-Ag catalysts is presented. • Small-sized, uniformly distributed Ag nanocatalysts are formed at gas/solid interface. • Ag/MR exhibits ultra-high catalytic activity. • The atomic stepped Ag surface is greatly advantageous to the catalytic activity. • SO 3 − group exhibits pull-push assisted catalytic effect. While supported-Ag nanocomposites play a pivotal role in heterogeneous catalytic reactions, the synthesis of small-sized (＜10 nm), uniformly distributed supported-Ag catalysts by environmentally friendly methods remains a challenging task. In this work, we first introduced –SO 3 Ag groups on macroporous resin (MR) surface via sulfonation, neutralization and ion-exchange reactions, and prepared the small-sized and evenly distributed Ag nanoparticles at gas/solid interface by reduction in gaseous vanillin atmosphere. The mild reaction conditions are favorable for the formation of atomic step-rich Ag nanostructure, which are beneficial to the catalytic activity of Ag/MR. Simultaneously, the ion-exchange functional group plays an important role in tuning the chemical environment of the silver catalyst. As a trusted model reaction, the reduction of 4-nitrophenol in water was used to test the catalytic activity. Ag/MR exhibits ultra-high catalytic activities, and its turnover frequency is orders of magnitude higher than those reported in literature. The pull-push catalytic mechanism ascribed to SO 3 − groups was first presented. This work presents a powerful and general strategy for the creation of highly efficient supported metal nanocatalysts.