Catalytic Nanoframes and Beyond

The ever-increasing need for the production and expenditure of sustainable energy is a result of the astonishing rate of consumption of fossil fuels and the accompanying environmental problems. Emphasis is being directed to the generation of sustainable energy by the fuel cell and water splitting technologies. Accordingly, the development of highly efficient electrocatalysts has attracted significant interest, as the fuel cell and water splitting technologies are critically dependent on their performance. Among numerous catalyst designs under investigation, nanoframe catalysts have an intrinsically large surface area per volume and a tunable composition, which impacts the number of catalytically active sites and their intrinsic catalytic activity, respectively. Nevertheless, the structural integrity of the nanoframe during electrochemical operation is an ongoing concern. Some significant advances in the field of nanoframe catalysts have been recently accomplished, specifically geared to resolving the catalytic stability concerns and significantly boosting the intrinsic catalytic activity of the active sites. Herein, general synthetic concepts of nanoframe structures and their structure-dependent catalytic performance are summarized, along with recent notable advances in this field. A discussion on the remaining challenges and future directions, addressing the limitations of nanoframe catalysts, are also provided.

Continuous synthesis of hollow silver–palladium nanoparticles for catalytic applications

Hollow bimetallic nanoparticles exhibit unique surface plasmonic properties, enhanced catalytic activities and high photo-thermal conversion efficiencies amongst other properties, however, their research and further deployment are currently limited by their complicated multi-step syntheses.

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.

Synthesis and optical property characterization of elongated AuPt and Pt@Au metal nanoframes

We report a facile method to synthesize elongated nanoframes consisting of Pt and Au in solution. Pentagonal Au nanorods served as templates and successfully led to an elongated AuPt nanoframe after etching the core Au. Subsequently, the coating of Au around Pt ridges resulted in Pt@Au metal nanoframes. The resulting elongated nanostructure exhibited 5 well-defined ridges continuously connected along the long axis. During the shape evolution from pure Au nanorods to elongated Pt@Au metal nanoframes, their corresponding localized surface plasmon resonance bands were monitored. Especially, unique surface plasmon features were observed for elongated Pt@Au nanoframes where the short-axis oscillation of surface free electrons is strongly coupled but the long-axis oscillation is not coupled among the ridges.

The alloying effect and AgCl-directing growth for synthesizing a trimetallic nanoring with improved SERS

We report the synthesis of high quality trimetallic Au/Ag/Pt nanorings (TAAPNs) by using Au/Ag alloy decahedra (AAAD) as templates. The alloying effect and AgCl-directing growth have been investigated in detail during the formation of TAAPN. It was found that the doping of Ag in AAAD changes the surrounding environment of Au atoms and decreases the oxidization reduction potential (ORP) of [AuCl(2)](-)/Au because of the alloying effect, resulting in the dissolved O(2) molecules that serve as an effective etchant for oxidizing Au to Au(I). Ascorbic acid (AA) and chloroplatinic acid (H(2)PtCl(6)) are weak acids which can accelerate the etching by increasing the concentration of H(+). The AgCl selectively absorbs on {100} of the decahedra and induces the preferential deposition of H(2)PtCl(6) here via their complexing interaction. AA reduces Pt(IV) and Ag(I) to atoms which grow on {100} facets. The formed Pt/Ag layer changes the etching direction from along [100] to [111] and generates the TAAPN. Besides, it has been noted that the TAAPNs exhibit good Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) performance.