Synthesis of 4H/fcc Noble Multimetallic Nanoribbons for Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Tunable preparation of ruthenium nanoparticles with superior size-dependent catalytic hydrogenation properties

Ruthenium (Ru) featured with an unusual catalytic behavior is of great significance in several heterogeneous and electro-catalytic reactions. The preparation of tractable Ru nanocatalysts and the building of highly active catalytic system at ambient temperature remains a grand challenge. Herein, a facile strategy is developed for the controllable preparation of Ru nanoparticles (NPs) with the sizes ranging from 2.6 to 51.5nm. Ru NPs show superior size-dependent catalytic performance with the best kinetic rate constant as high as -1.52min^-1, which could far surpass the other traditional noble metals. Ru NPs exert exceedingly efficient low-temperature catalytic activity and good recyclability in the catalytic reduction of nitroaromatic compounds (NACs) and azo dyes. The developed catalytic system provides a distinguishing insight for the artificial preparation of Ru NPs with desired sizes, and allows for the development of rational design rules for exploring catalysts with superior catalytic performances, potentially broadening the applications of metallic NP-enabled catalytic analysis.

Precise tuning in platinum-nickel/nickel sulfide interface nanowires for synergistic hydrogen evolution catalysis

Comprising abundant interfaces, multicomponent heterostructures can integrate distinct building blocks into single entities and yield exceptional functionalities enabled by the synergistic components. Here we report an efficient approach to construct one-dimensional metal/sulfide heterostructures by directly sulfuring highly composition-segregated platinum-nickel nanowires. The heterostructures possess a high density of interfaces between platinum-nickel and nickel sulfide components, which cooperate synergistically towards alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction. The platinum-nickel/nickel sulfide heterostructures can deliver a current density of 37.2 mA cm⁻² at an overpotential of 70 mV, which is 9.7 times higher than that of commercial Pt/C. The heterostructures also offer enhanced stability revealed by long-term chronopotentiometry measurements. The present work highlights a potentially powerful interface-engineering strategy for designing multicomponent heterostructures with advanced performance in hydrogen evolution reaction and beyond.

Multicomponent, nanoscale heterostructures may exhibit notable catalytic properties imparted by the various building blocks. Here, the authors fabricate metal/sulfide heterostructures via direct sulfurization of segregated platinum-nickel nanowires, and assess their hydrogen evolution performance.

Synthesis and characterization of an IrO2–Fe2O3 electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction in acidic water electrolysis

An IrO₂–Fe₂O₃ electrocatalyst was prepared for the HER in acidic water electrolysis and exhibits higher activity than IrO₂.

High-efficiency electrochemical hydrogen evolution based on the intermetallic Pt2Si compound prepared by magnetron-sputtering

An intermetallic Pt₂Si compound was prepared by magnetron sputtering, which exhibited higher HER activity than that of Pt in acidic solution.

Ternary Pt–Pd–Ag alloy nanoflowers for oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalysis

Elemental composition, dimensionality and morphology are the main factors that influence the catalytic activity and stability of platinum-based and noble metal alloy nanocatalysts.

Template Synthesis of Noble Metal Nanocrystals with Unusual Crystal Structures and Their Catalytic Applications

Noble metal nanocrystals own high chemical stability, unique plasmonic and distinctive catalytic properties, making them outstanding in many applications. However, their practical applications are limited by their high cost and scarcity on the earth. One promising strategy to solve these problems is to boost their catalytic performance in order to reduce their usage amount. To realize this target, great research efforts have been devoted to the size-, composition-, shape- and/or architecture-controlled syntheses of noble metal nanocrystals during the past two decades. Impressively, recent experimental studies have revealed that the crystal structure of noble metal nanocrystals can also significantly affect their physicochemical properties, such as optical, magnetic, catalytic, mechanical, electrical and electronic properties. Therefore, besides the well-established size, composition, shape, and architecture control, the rise of crystal structure-controlled synthesis of noble metal nanocrystals will open up new opportunities to further improve their functional properties, and thus promote their potential applications in energy conversion, catalysis, biosensing, information storage, surface enhanced Raman scattering, waveguide, near-infrared photothermal therapy, controlled release, bioimaging, biomedicine, and so on. In this Account, we review the recent research progress on the crystal structure control of noble metal nanocrystals with a template synthetic approach and their crystal structure-dependent catalytic properties. We first describe the template synthetic methods, such as epitaxial growth and galvanic replacement reaction methods, in which a presynthesized noble metal nanocrystal with either new or common crystal structure is used as the template to direct the growth of unusual crystal structures of other noble metals. Significantly, the template synthetic strategy described here provides an efficient, simple and straightforward way to synthesize unusual crystal structures of noble metal nanocrystals, which might not be easily synthesized by commonly used chemical synthesis. To be specific, by using the epitaxial growth method, a series of noble metal nanocrystals with unusual crystal structures has been obtained, such as hexagonal close-packed Ag, 4H Ag, Pd, Pt, Ir, Rh, Os, and Ru, and face-centered cubic Ru nanostructures. Meanwhile, the galvanic replacement reaction method offers an efficient way to synthesize noble metal alloy nanocrystals with unusual crystal structures, such as 4H PdAg, PtAg, and PtPdAg nanostructures. We then briefly introduce the stability of noble metal nanocrystals with unusual crystal structures. After that, we demonstrate the catalytic applications of the resultant noble metal nanocrystals with unusual crystal structures toward different chemical reactions like hydrogen evolution reaction, hydrogen oxidation reaction and organic reactions. The relationship between crystal structures of noble metal nanocrystals and their catalytic performances is discussed. Finally, we summarize the whole paper, and address the current challenges and future opportunities for the template synthesis of noble metal nanocrystals with unusual crystal structures. We expect that this Account will promote the crystal structure-controlled synthesis of noble metal nanocrystals, which can provide a new way to further improve their advanced functional properties toward their practical applications.

Epitaxial Growth of Multimetallic Pd@PtM (M = Ni, Rh, Ru) Core-Shell Nanoplates Realized by in Situ-Produced CO from Interfacial Catalytic Reactions

Pt-based multimetallic core-shell nanoplates have received great attention as advanced catalysts, but the synthesis is still challenging. Here we report the synthesis of multimetallic Pd@PtM (M = Ni, Rh, Ru) nanoplates including Pd@Pt nanoplates, in which Pt or Pt alloy shells with controlled thickness epitaxially grow on plate-like Pd seeds. The key to achieve high-quality Pt-based multimetallic nanoplates is in situ generation of CO through interfacial catalytic reactions associated with Pd nanoplates and benzyl alcohol. In addition, the accurate control in a trace amount of CO is also of great importance for conformal growth of multimetallic core-shell nanoplates. The Pd@PtNi nanoplates exhibit substantially improved activity and stability for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) compared to the Pd@Pt nanoplates and commercial Pt catalysts due to the advantages arising from plate-like, core-shell, and alloy structures.

Rational design and synthesis of noble-metal nanoframes for catalytic and photonic applications

Nanoframes are unique for their 3D, highly open architecture. When made of noble metals, they are attractive for use as heterogeneous catalysts because of their large specific surface areas, high densities of catalytically active sites and low vulnerability toward sintering. They promise to enhance the catalytic activity and durability while reducing the material loading and cost. For nanoframes composed of Au and/or Ag, they also exhibit highly tunable plasmonic properties similar to those of nanorods. This article presents a brief account of recent progress in the design, synthesis and utilization of noble-metal nanoframes. We start with a discussion of the synthetic strategies, including those involving site-selected deposition and etching, as well as dealloying of both hollow and solid nanocrystals. We then highlight some of the applications enabled by noble-metal nanoframes. Finally, we discuss the challenges and trends with regard to future development.

Epitaxial growth of unusual 4H hexagonal Ir, Rh, Os, Ru and Cu nanostructures on 4H Au nanoribbons

This edge article reports the epitaxial growth of five 4H hexagonal metal nanostructures on 4H Au nanoribbons under ambient conditions.

Metal nanomaterials normally adopt the same crystal structure as their bulk counterparts. Herein, for the first time, the unusual 4H hexagonal Ir, Rh, Os, Ru and Cu nanostructures have been synthesized on 4H Au nanoribbons (NRBs) via solution-phase epitaxial growth under ambient conditions. Interestingly, the 4H Au NRBs undergo partial phase transformation from 4H to face-centered cubic (fcc) structures after the metal coating. As a result, a series of polytypic 4H/fcc bimetallic Au@M (M = Ir, Rh, Os, Ru and Cu) core–shell NRBs has been obtained. We believe that the rational crystal structure-controlled synthesis of metal nanomaterials will bring new opportunities for exploring their phase-dependent physicochemical properties and promising applications.

Highly Active Carbon Supported Pd-Ag Nanofacets Catalysts for Hydrogen Production from HCOOH

Hydrogen is regarded as a future sustainable and clean energy carrier. Formic acid is a safe and sustainable hydrogen storage medium with many advantages, including high hydrogen content, nontoxicity, and low cost. In this work, a series of highly active catalysts for hydrogen production from formic acid are successfully synthesized by controllably depositing Pd onto Ag nanoplates with different Ag nanofacets, such as Ag{111}, Ag{100}, and the nanofacet on hexagonal close packing Ag crystal (Ag{hcp}). Then, the Pd-Ag nanoplate catalysts are supported on Vulcan XC-72 carbon black to prevent the aggregation of the catalysts. The research reveals that the high activity is attributed to the formation of Pd-Ag alloy nanofacets, such as Pd-Ag{111}, Pd-Ag{100}, and Pd-Ag{hcp}. The activity order of these Pd-decorated Ag nanofacets is Pd-Ag{hcp} > Pd-Ag{111} > Pd-Ag{100}. Particularly, the activity of Pd-Ag{hcp} is up to an extremely high value, i.e., TOF{hcp} = 19 000 ± 1630 h(-1) at 90 °C (lower limit value), which is more than 800 times higher than our previous quasi-spherical Pd-Ag alloy nanocatalyst. The initial activity of Pd-Ag{hcp} even reaches (3.13 ± 0.19) × 10(6) h(-1) at 90 °C. This research not only presents highly active catalysts for hydrogen generation but also shows that the facet on the hcp Ag crystal can act as a potentially highly active catalyst.

Synthesis of 4H/fcc-Au@M (M = Ir, Os, IrOs) Core-Shell Nanoribbons For Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution Reaction

The high-yield synthesis of 4H/face-centered cubic (fcc)-Au@Ir core-shell nanoribbons (NRBs) is achieved via the direct growth of Ir on 4H Au NRBs under ambient conditions. Importantly, this method can be used to synthesize 4H/fcc-Au@Os and 4H/fcc-Au@IrOs core-shell NRBs. Significantly, the obtained 4H/fcc-Au@Ir core-shell NRBs demonstrate an exceptional electrocatalytic activity toward the oxygen evolution reaction under acidic condition, which is much higher than that of the commercial Ir/C catalyst.

Gold nanoflowers with tunable sheet-like petals: facile synthesis, SERS performances and cell imaging

Gold nanoflowers with tunable sheet-like petals were controllably synthesized, and their SERS performances as well as their application in cell imaging were studied.