Precise Size‐Selective Sieving of Nanoparticles Using a Highly Oriented Two‐Dimensional Supramolecular Polymer

The development of size‐selective membranes with well‐defined nanopores towards the precise separation of nanometer‐sized substances is a challenging task to achieve. Here a supramolecular membrane is presented that comprises a highly oriented, honeycomb‐like, 2D supramolecular polymer on a polycarbonate filter support. It enables precise size‐selective sieving of colloidal nanoparticles (NPs). Owing to the uniform parallel‐aligned nanocavities within the 2D supramolecular polymers, the composite membrane shows a high size‐selectivity with a sub‐nanometer accuracy in the cutoff size of about 4.0 nm. In principle, the species of size‐separable particles are unlimited, as demonstrated by quantum dots, noble metal, and metal oxide NPs. This supramolecular membrane combined with filtration advances the potential of NPs in terms of their monochromatic emission and size monodispersity, and also enables rapid removal of small magnetic NP adsorbents that are otherwise difficult to capture.     

Tailoring Renal Clearance and Tumor Targeting of Ultrasmall Metal Nanoparticles with Particle Density

Identifying key factors that govern the in vivo behavior of nanomaterials is critical to the clinical translation of nanomedicines. Overshadowed by size‐, shape‐, and surface‐chemistry effects, the impact of the particle core density on clearance and tumor targeting of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) remains largely unknown. By utilizing a class of ultrasmall metal NPs with the same size and surface chemistry but different densities, we found that the renal‐clearance efficiency exponentially increased in the early elimination phase while passive tumor targeting linearly decreased with a decrease in particle density. Moreover, lower‐density NPs are more easily distributed in the body and have shorter retention times in highly permeable organs than higher‐density NPs. The density‐dependent in vivo behavior of metal NPs likely results from their distinct margination in laminar blood flow, which opens up a new path for precise control of nanomedicines in vivo.     

Colloids for Catalysts: A Concept for the Preparation of Superior Catalysts of Industrial Relevance

Compared to conventional preparation methods for supported heterogeneous catalysts, the use of colloidal nanoparticles (NPs) allows for a precise control over size, size distribution, and distribution/location of the NPs on the support. However, common colloidal syntheses have restrictions that limit their applicability for industrial catalyst preparation. We present a simple, surfactant‐free, and scalable preparation method for colloidal NPs to overcome these restrictions. We demonstrate how precious‐metal NPs are prepared in alkaline methanol, how the particle size can be tuned, and how supported catalysts are obtained. The potential of these colloids in the preparation of improved catalysts is demonstrated by two examples from heterogeneous catalysis and electrocatalysis.     

Size control of PtPb intermetallic nanoparticles prepared via microemulsions

PtPb intermetallic nanoparticles (3-6 nm) with precise control (±0.8 nm) were prepared under mild conditions by using water-in-oil (w/o) microemulsions as reaction media. The amount of the aqueous phase has no significant effect on the composition of the NPs, while it indeed affects the size of the resulting NPs in a systematic way. A precise size control can be obtained by controlling the size of the w/o-microemulsions containing the metal salts and the reducing agent, respectively.     

A Surfactant‐Encapsulating Polyoxometalate Nanowire Assembly as a New Carrier for Nanoscale Noble‐Metal Catalysts

The loading of noble‐metal nanoparticles (NMNPs) onto various carriers to obtain stable and highly efficient catalysts is currently an important strategy in the development of noble metal (NM)‐based catalytic reactions and their applications. We herein report a nanowire supramolecular assembly constructed from the surfactant‐encapsulating polyoxometalates (SEPs) CTAB‐PW₁₂, which can act as new carriers for NMNPs. In this case, the Ag NPs are loaded onto the SEP nanowire assembly with a narrow size distribution from 5 to 20 nm in diameter; the average size is approximately 10 nm. The Ag NPs on the nanowire assemblies are well stabilized and the over agglomeration of Ag NPs is avoided owing to the existence of well‐arranged polyoxometalate (POM) units in the SEP assembly and the hydrophobic surfactant on the surface of the nanowire assembly. Furthermore, the loading amount of the Ag NPs can be adjusted by controlling the concentration of the AgNO₃ aqueous solution. The resultant Ag/CTAB‐PW₁₂ composite materials exhibit high activity and good stability for the catalytic reduction of 4‐nitrophenol (4‐NP) with NaBH₄ in isopropanol/H₂O solution. The NMNPs‐loaded SEP nanoassembly may represent a new composite catalyst system for application in NM‐based catalysis.     

Size-selective template-assisted electrophoretic assembly of nanoparticles for biosensing applications

The precise, size-selective assembly of nanoparticles gives rise to many applications where the assembly of nano building blocks with different biological or chemical functionalizations is necessary. We introduce a simple, fast, reproducible-directed assembly technique that enables a complete sorting of nanoparticles with single-particle resolution. Nanoparticles are size-selectively assembled into prefabricated via arrays using a sequential template-directed electrophoretic assembly method. Polystyrene latex (PSL) nanoparticles with diameters ranging from 200 to 50 nm are selectively assembled into vias comparable to nanoparticle diameter. We investigate the effects of particle size and via size on the sorting efficiency. We show that complete sorting can be achieved when the size of the vias is close to the diameter of the nanoparticles and the size distribution of the chosen nanoparticles does not overlap. The results also show that it is necessary to keep the electric field on during the insertion and removal of the template. To elucidate the versatility and nil effects that the electrophoresis assembly technique has on the assembled nanoparticle characteristics, we have assembled cancer-specific monoclonal antibody-2C5-coated nanoparticles and have also shown that they can successfully measure low concentrations of the nucleosome (NS) antigen.     

Highly Selective and Active Pd‐In/three‐dimensional Graphene with Special Structure for Electroreduction CO2 to Formate

Electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ to formate on carbon based electrodes is known to suffer from low electrochemical reaction activity and product selectivity. Pd/three‐dimensional graphene (Pd/3D‐RGO), In/3D‐RGO and Pd‐In/3D‐RGO for the electrochemical reduction of CO₂ were prepared by a mild method that combines chemical and hydrothermal. The metal/3D‐graphenes (metal/3D‐RGO) were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Cyclic voltammetry and the ion chromatography were performed to investigate the electrochemical performance of the metal/3D‐RGO. The morphology and dispersion of metal/3D‐RGO are 3D structure with amount of interconnected pores with metal NPs loading on the fold. And the Pd_0.5‐In_0.5/3D‐RGO show excellent surface performance with well dispersion and smallest particle size (12.8 nm). XPS reveal that binding energy of Pd (In) NPs is shifted to negative energy, for the metal lose electrons in metal and combine with C, which is demonstrated in the HNO₃ experiment. The peak potential of Pd_0.5‐In_0.5/3D‐RGO is −0.70 V (vs. Ag/AgCl), which is more positive than In_1.0/3D‐RGO (−0.73 V) and Pd_1.0/3D‐RGO (−1.2 V). The highest faradaic efficiency (85.3 %) happens in Pd_0.5‐In_0.5/3D‐RGO at −1.6 V vs. Ag/AgCl. In these experiments, the special structure that metal NPs combine with C and the bimetal NPs give a direction to convert CO₂ to formate.     

Progress in design and architecture of metal nanoparticles for catalytic applications

Over the past few years, nanometer-sized transition metal particles have been intensively pursued as potentially advanced catalysts because their special properties lie between those of single metal atoms and bulk metal. Achieving the accurate control of particle size and overall particle size distribution is one of the most crucial challenges to provide unique chemical and physical properties. We highlight herein our recent progress in the exploitation of promising nanoparticle (NP)-based catalysts designed by precise architecture that enable efficient and selective chemical transformations and can be completely separated and are recyclable. This perspective article consists of the following two specific topics: (i) multifunctional catalysts based on magnetic NPs and (ii) new routes for the preparation of supported metal NPs catalysts. The synthetic strategies described here are simple and general for practical catalyst design, thus allowing a strong protocol for creating various nanostructured catalysts.     

Concentration–polarization effect of poly(sodium styrene sulfonate) on size distribution of colloidal silver nanoparticles during diafiltration experiments

Polyelectrolyte (PEL)-based dual systems and nanoparticles (NPs) are two topics which have generated great interest as a result of their many and novel applications. Here, PEL–NPs system which appears transitorily when a high molecular weight PEL solution is mixed with metal NP colloidal dispersions during diafiltration is studied. The aim of this paper was to analyze the concentration–polarization effect of PEL molecules on size distribution of NPs capable to pass through the ultrafiltration membrane. Poly(sodium styrene sulfonate) (PSSNa) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were used as PEL and metal NP colloidal dispersion, respectively. It was seen that particle size decreased from 42.4?±?37.8 to 10.1?±?0.7 nm in the presence of PSSNa and concentration–polarization. In addition, our results indicate that polarization–concentration phenomenon can be used to modify the size distribution of NP colloidal dispersions, that by changes of polarization–concentration features is possible the modification of NP size in the permeate during diafiltration experiments and that in presence of concentration–polarization, PSSNa was only a modifier factor of medium. In addition, it was observed that exclusion size of ultrafiltration membrane is an important element for establishing of particle size in the permeate.     

Electrochemically controlled assembly and logic gates operations of gold nanoparticle arrays

The reversible assembly of β-cyclodextrin-functionalized gold NPs (β-CD Au NPs) is studied on mixed self-assembled monolayer (SAM), formed by coadsorption of redox-active ferrocenylalkylthiols and n-alkanethiols on gold surfaces. The surface coverage and spatial distribution of the β-CD Au NPs monolayer on the gold substrate are tuned by the self-assembled monolayer composition. The binding and release of β-CD Au NPs to and from the SAMs modified surface are followed by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy. The redox state of the tethered ferrocene in binary SAMs controls the formation of the supramolecular interaction between ferrocene moieties and β-CD-capped Au NPs. As a result, the potential-induced uptake and release of β-CD Au NPs to and from the surface is accomplished. The competitive binding of β-CD Au NPs with guest molecules in solution shifted the equilibrium of the complexation-decomplexation process involving the supramolecular interaction with the Fc-functionalized surface. The dual controlled assembly of β-CD Au NPs on the surface enabled to use two stimuli as inputs for logic gate activation; the coupling between the localized surface plasmon, associated with the Au NP, and the surface plasmon wave, associated with the thin metal surface, is implemented as readout signal for "AND" logic gate operations.     

Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube-encapsulated nickel nanoparticles assembled on graphene for efficient CO_2 electroreduction

Exploring 3 D hybrid nanocarbons encapsulated with metal nanoparticles(NPs) are recently considered as emerging catalysts for boosting CO_2 electroreduction reaction(CRR) under practical and economic limits.Herein,we report a one-step pyrolysis strategy for fabricating N-doped carbon nanotube(CNT)-encapsulated Ni NPs assembled on the surface of graphene(N/NiNPs@CNT/G) to efficiently convert CO_2 into CO.In such 3 D hybrid,the particle size of Ni NPs that coated by five graphitic carbon layers is less than 100 nm,and the amount of N dopants introduced into graphene with countable CNTs is determined to 7.27 at%.Thanks to unique CNT-encapsulated Ni NPs structure and N dopants,the achieved N/NiNPs@CNT/G hybrid displays an exceptional CRR activity with a high Faradaic efficiency of 97.7% and large CO partial current density of 7.9 mA/cm~2 at-0.7 V,which outperforms those reported metallic NPs loaded carbon based CRR electrocatalysts.Further,a low Tafel slope of 134 mV/dec,a turnover frequency of 387.3 CO/h at-0.9 V,and tiny performance losses during long-term CRR operation are observed on N/NiNPs@CNT/G.Experimental observations illustrate that the Ni NPs encapsulated by carbon layers along with N dopants are of great importance in the conversion of CO_2 into CO with high current density.     

Atomically precise Au25(GSH)18 nanoclusters versus plasmonic Au nanocrystals: Evaluating charge impetus in solar water oxidation

Atomically precise metal nanoclusters (NCs) have been deemed as an emerging class of metal nanomaterials owing to fascinating size-dependent physicochemical properties, discrete energy band structure, and quantum confinement effect, which are distinct from conventional metal nanoparticles (NPs). Nevertheless, metal NCs suffer from photoinduced self-oxidative aggregation accompanied by in-situ transformation to metal NPs, markedly reducing the photosensitization of metal NCs. Herein, maneuvering the generic instability of metal NCs, we perform the charge transport impetus comparison between atomically precise metal NCs and plasmonic metal NPs counterpart obtained from in-situ self-transformation of metal NCs in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting reaction. For conceptual demonstration, we proposed two quintessential heterostructures, which include TNTAs-Au₂₅ heterostructure fabricated by electrostatically depositing glutathione (GSH)-protected Au₂₅(GSH)₁₈ NCs on the TiO₂ nanotube arrays (TNTAs) substrate, and TNTAs-Au heterostructure constructed by triggering self-transformation of Au₂₅(GSH)₁₈ NCs to plasmonic Au NPs in TNTAs-Au₂₅ via calcination. The results indicate that photoelectrons produced over Au₂₅ NCs are superior to hot electrons of plasmonic Au NPs in stimulating the interracial charge transport toward solar water oxidation. This is mainly ascribed to the significantly accelerated carrier transport kinetics, prolonged carrier lifespan, and substantial photosensitization effect of Au₂₅ NCs compared with plasmonic Au NPs, resulting in the considerably enhanced PEC water splitting performance of TNTAs-Au₂₅ relative to plasmonic TNTAs-Au counterpart under visible light irradiation. Our work would provide important implications for rationally designing atomically precise metal NCs-based photosystems toward solar energy conversion.     

Hyperbranched polyglycidol assisted green synthetic protocols for the preparation of multifunctional metal nanoparticles

Biocompatible hyperbranched polyglycidol (HBP) has been demonstrated to be an effective reducing and stabilizing agent for the synthesis of highly water-soluble monometallic (Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, and Ru) and bimetallic (Au/Pt, Au/Pd, and Au/Ru) nanoparticles (NPs), which provides a general and green protocol to fabricate metal NPs. The HBP-assisted reduction of metal ions follows an analogous polyol process. The reduction reaction rate increases sharply by increasing the temperature and the molecular weight of HBP. The size of NPs is controllable simply by changing the concentration of the metal precursor. High molecular weight HBP is favorable for the formation of NPs with uniform size and improved stability. By utilizing hydroxyl groups in the HBP-passivation layer of Au NPs, TiO(2)/Au, GeO(2)/Au, and SiO(2)/Au nanohybrids are also fabricated via sol-gel processes, which sets a typical example for the creation of versatile metal NPs/inorganic oxide hybrids based on the as-prepared multifunctional NPs.     

Size-controlled deposition of Ag nanoparticles on alumina with the assistance of a photo-induced chromic reaction, and study of their catalytic properties

This paper describes a promising method to synthesize supported metal catalysts based on a photochromic reaction. Highly dispersed Ag nanoparticles (NPs) with a mean diameter of ca. 10 nm stabilized by 3-mercaptopropionic acid (3-MPA) were prepared as a colloidal precursor solution. The zeta electric potential was found to be negatively charged in the region of pH higher than 5 due to the presence of dissociated carboxylate ions (-COO(-)), which led to electric repulsion between Ag NPs and kept the solution in a highly dispersed colloidal state. In the presence of photochromic molecules, trans-2-hydroxychalcone, the photo-irradiation gradually decreased the electric charge on the nanoparticles owing to the formation of flavylium cations, which induced the assembly of Ag NPs. Such photo-induced assembly-dispersion control of Ag NPs enables size selective deposition on a catalyst support, which is controlled by varying the photo-irradiation time.     

原子数精确的金属纳米团簇在电催化领域的应用研究进展

金属纳米团簇（M NCs）是由几个到数百个金属原子组成,其尺寸一般小于2 nm。金属纳米团簇在许多催化反应中表现出高的催化活性和选择性,这与金属纳米团簇具有高的比表面积、较多暴露的活性原子,以及与金属纳米粒子（M NPs）不同的电子结构有关。金属纳米团簇确定的组成和结构使其成为一种新型模型催化剂,对纳米团簇的催化性能研究有利于人们深入理解催化剂结构-性质之间的关系,更利于催化剂的理性设计与发展。结合近几年国内外和本课题组在金属纳米团簇电催化领域的研究进展和现状,本文对该领域的代表性工作进行了简要综述,并对其未来在电催化领域的应用前景和需要解决的关键问题进行了展望。     

纳米粒子的精准组装

纳米材料由于其独特的光、电、磁、力学等性质,成为了构建功能材料与器件的理想基元。实现纳米粒子的精确组装,是探究粒子之间的耦合聚集性质和制备宏观功能器件的基础。但是由于纳米粒子的小尺寸以及在溶液中运动的随机性与复杂性,精准控制纳米粒子组装体的形貌以及在空间中的相对位置仍存在巨大挑战。为了将纳米粒子组装成理想的有序结构,许多控制粒子组装的策略与方法得到发展。本文首先概述了纳米粒子自组装的控制方法与典型形貌,着重分析了影响粒子精准排布的因素与控制方法,并对纳米粒子及其组装体的光学性质与器件应用的最新研究进展进行了讨论,最后对目前纳米粒子精准组装所面临的挑战以及未来发展的方向进行了展望。     

Tuning the High‐Temperature Wetting Behavior of Metals toward Ultrafine Nanoparticles

The interaction between metal nanoparticles (NPs) and their substrate plays a critical role in determining the particle morphology, distribution, and properties. The pronounced impact of a thin oxide coating on the dispersion of metal NPs on a carbon substrate is presented. Al₂O₃‐supported Pt NPs are compared to the direct synthesis of Pt NPs on bare carbon surfaces. Pt NPs with an average size of about 2 nm and a size distribution ranging between 0.5 nm and 4.0 nm are synthesized on the Al₂O₃ coated carbon nanofiber, a significant improvement compared to those directly synthesized on a bare carbon surface. First‐principles modeling verifies the stronger adsorption of Pt clusters on Al₂O₃ than on carbon, which attributes the formation of ultrafine Pt NPs. This strategy paves the way towards the rational design of NPs with enhanced dispersion and controlled particle size, which are promising in energy storage and electrocatalysis.     

Controlled Growth of Ag Nanocrystals in a H-Bonded Open Framework

A procedure that enabled rational access to the first example of hybrid material made of NPs grown within a H-bonded framework is reported. To avoid competitive reactions with the framework units, the metal precursor was chemically trapped in the porous structure and subsequently photo-reduced to afford the hybrid material Ag@SPA-2 , which consists of Ag NPs of nanometric sizes (<15 nm) homogeneously distributed in the crystals of the host material. In a subsequent step, taking advantage of the porous matrix the silver NPs have been transformed in situ to Ag₂S NP by simple infiltration of H₂S. The supramolecular network is shown to play an important role in stabilizing the inorganic nanomaterials and thus in controlling their growth.     

Pyrazine Derivative as Supramolecular Host for Immobilization of Palladium Nanoparticles for Efficient Suzuki Coupling

Palladium nanoparticles (NPs) have been extensively explored as unique catalyst for carbon-carbon coupling reactions. Nonetheless, because of extreme tendency of nanoparticles to undergo agglomeration, the immobilization of these metal NPs on organic frameworks is an important area of research. The present investigation demonstrates the synthesis of pyrazine derivative PYZ - TA as a supramolecular host for holding co-released Pd NPs derived from the original catalyst (Pd(II)) under standard Suzuki coupling. Unprecedent, physical bars are not required to capture Pd NPs within the pores of supramolecular host. The as obtained catalyst PYZ - TA@Pd exhibits high potential to undergo self-assembly in solid as well as in liquid state. The PYZ - TA@Pd ensemble shows high catalytic activity and recyclability (up to seven cycles) in Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reactions using low palladium loading and provides the corresponding products in excellent yields (up to 98 %). Therefore, this study provides an efficient strategy to develop an easy to synthesize palladium centered solid catalyst through coordination between organic host and Pd NPs.     

电子诱导金属多肽的超分子组装、化学响应释放及其催化应用

近年来,超分子组装在催化、制药、传感器、提纯、组织工程等领域获得广泛应用.为了实现超分子结构功能化,经常会将金属纳米颗粒或者金属活性位引入或共组装至有机超分子骨架中,由此获得金属化的纳米材料.例如,金属纳米颗粒修饰的多肽纤维、金属聚合物、金属负载的水凝胶和气凝胶.常见的金属化策略包括自组织、金属有机配位络合、聚合和电子诱导组装等.其中,由本课题组发展的电子诱导组装法已经被用于制备高效金属多肽催化剂、能源转化材料和非均相催化剂模板等.室温电子诱导组装利用了辉光等离子体富含的电子,是室温电子还原制备纳米金属颗粒及相关催化剂的进一步发展.该方法操作过程简单,仅需一步即可同时实现金属还原和有机物组装;且绿色环保、不需要添加还原剂、操作条件温和、反应时间短(在室温条件下几分钟内即可反应完全).所获得的二维多肽纳米薄膜含有高度分散的金属纳米颗粒.研究表明,电子诱导组装法是构建超分子催化剂强有力的工具.然而,电子诱导超分子组装的反应机理仍然不清楚.为了进一步开发应用新的超分子材料,开展电子诱导组装机理研究十分必要.本文选择β淀粉肽的五肽片段作为电子诱导组装的单体和贵金属(Pd,Pt和Au)离子通过电子还原得到金属多肽纳米膜.通过调控原料配比和浓度,获得了包覆有超细贵金属纳米颗粒(1–2 nm)的金属多肽纳米薄膜.通过扫描电子显微镜、透射电子显微镜、X射线衍射光谱、X射线光电能谱等表征手段,对金属多肽纳米薄膜的结构和成分进行了分析.通过原子力显微镜对金属多肽纳米薄膜的多级结构进行分析发现,电子诱导组装的组装单元为碟状组合体,与常规自组装有显著区别,通过傅里叶变换红外光谱、X射线光电能谱等表征方法,结合密度泛函(DFT)计算,对组装过程多肽分子的表面性质和变化进行了分析.发现多肽在电子诱导组装过程中会发生部分氧化.DFT研究给出两种可能的羟基自由基活化碳氢键过程,说明形成的羟基提供了额外的氢键相互作用,促进了组装的快速发生.多肽中含有苯环的侧链对多肽组装后二维结构的形成起到重要作用.本文还首次发现金属多肽薄膜能够在化学试剂刺激下响应释放金属纳米颗粒.如在硼氢化钠作用下可以快速释放金属纳米颗粒、在谷胱甘肽作用下可以缓慢释放金属纳米颗粒.硼氢化钠作用下释放后的金属颗粒对4-氨基苯酚还原反应具有良好的催化活性.金属多肽薄膜的快速响应释放可以为稳定纳米金属颗粒提供一个新方法,替代那些以往采用的稳定剂难于脱除的纳米金属稳定方法.而慢速响应释放则有潜力应用于药物缓释、光热治疗生物传感和成像等医学领域.