High catalytic activity of platinum nanoparticles immobilized on spherical polyelectrolyte brushes

We present a study on the catalytic activity of platinum nanoparticles immobilized on spherical polyelectrolyte brushes that act as carriers. The spherical polyelectrolyte brushes consist of a solid core of poly(styrene) onto which long chains of poly(2-methylpropenoyloxyethyl) trimethylammonium chloride are grafted. These positively charged chains form a dense layer of polyelectrolytes on the surface of the core particles ("spherical polyelectrolyte brush") that tightly binds divalent PtCl6-(2) ions. The reduction of these ions within the brush layer leads to nearly monodisperse nanoparticles of metallic platinum. The average size of the particles is approximately 2 nm. The composite particles exhibit excellent colloidal stability. The catalytic activity is investigated by photometrically monitoring the reduction of p-nitrophenol by an excess of NaBH4 in the presence of the nanoparticles. The kinetic data could be explained by the assumption of a pseudo-first-order reaction with regard to p-nitrophenol. In all cases, a delay time t0 has been observed, after which the reactions start. This time is shorter when the catalyst has already been used. All data demonstrate that spherical polyelectrolyte brushes present an ideal carrier system for metallic nanoparticles.     

Highly catalytic spherical carbon nanocomposites allowing tunable activity via controllable Au-Pd doping

We report the synthesis of highly catalytic spherical carbon composite particles with Au-Pd bimetallic nanoparticle doping using a microwave-assisted technique that allows control over the location of the nanoparticles (NPs), putting them into stable interior, but still near-surface locations (within a 100 nm thick shell). First, composite particles with Pd NPs inside of nanoporous carbon spheres (CSs) were synthesized. Subsequent immersion of the composite particles in HAuCl(4) solutions containing PVP led to an addition of Au near the Pd. Au-Pd/CS composites with Au:Pd atomic ratios varying from 0.4 to 4.6 were prepared. The growth of Au and its location relative to the carbon's surface and the Pd are discussed. The catalytic activity towards the reduction of 4-nitrophenol is tunable via the Au:Pd atomic ratio. Optimizing the composition increases the activity a hundredfold over that of the corresponding monometallic Pd/CS. The catalytic activity arises from the synergy between different contributing mechanisms, here especially the interaction between the carbon matrix and metals, metal-metal interfaces, and the hydrogen absorption capabilities of Pd.     

Spherical Polyelectrolyte Brushes as Carriers for Catalytically Active Metal Nanoparticles

Summary: We present a study on the catalytic activity of metal nanoparticles immobilized on spherical polyelectrolyte brushes that act as carriers. The spherical polyelectrolyte brushes consist of a solid core of poly(styrene) onto which long chains of poly(2-methylpropenoyloxyethyl) trimethylammonium chloride are grafted. These positively charged chains form a dense layer of polyelectrolytes on the surface of the core particles (“spherical polyelectrolyte brush”) that tightly binds divalent metal ions, such as AuCl, PdCl or PtCl. The reduction of these ions within the brush layer leads to nearly monodisperse metal nanoparticles. Gold, platinum and palladium nanoparticles with diameters of around 1.25 nm, 2.1 nm and 2.4 nm have been embedded into polyelectrolyte brushes, respectively. The composite particles exhibit excellent colloidal stability. The catalytic activity is investigated by photometrically monitoring the reduction of p-nitrophenol by an excess of NaBH₄ in the presence of the nanoparticles. The kinetic data could be explained by the assumption of a pseudo-first-order reaction with regard to p-nitrophenol. All data demonstrate that spherical polyelectrolyte brushes present an ideal carrier system for metallic nanoparticles.     

Preparation of Au/Ag multilayers via layer-by-layer self-assembly in spherical polyelectrolyte brushes and their catalytic activity

Spherical polyelectrolyte brushes(SPBs) consisting of polystyrene(PS) core and poly(2-aminoethyl methacrylate hydrochloride)(PAEMH) shell were prepared by photo-emulsion polymerization. Au nanoparticles(Au-NPs) with controlled size and size distribution were synthesized in situ using SPBs as nanoreactors. Via layer-by-layer deposition technique on the surface of SPBs, nano-composite particles with Au/Ag-NPs bilayer and Au/Ag/Au-NPs trilayer were prepared. The structures of the as-prepared Au/Ag multilayer SPBs were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, TEM, ICP-AES and DLS. The charge reversal of the nano-composite particles observed by zeta potential confirmed the success of layer-by-layer assembly. The Au/Ag-NPs bilayer nano-composite particles showed high catalytic efficiency with an apparent activation energy of about 41.2 k J/mol in the reduction reaction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol in the existence of sodium borohydride monitored. The catalytic activity of Au/Ag-NPs multilayer SPBs close to that of Au-NPs SPBs and much higher than that of Ag-NPs SPBs reveals its potential applications in cost-effective catalysts with high-performance.     

Au and Pd atoms adsorbed on pure and Ti-doped SiO2/Mo(112) films

The interaction of Pd and Au atoms with a silica surface and SiO2Mo(112) ultrathin films has been studied with periodic density-functional theory-generalized gradient approximation calculations. On both unsupported and supported silica, Pd and Au are weakly bound. No charge transfer occurs to the empty Pd and Au orbitals. Differently from Au, Pd can easily penetrate with virtually no barrier into the hexagonal rings of the supported silica film and binds strongly at the SiO2-Mo interface. The same process for Au implies overcoming a barrier of 0.9 eV. Completely different is the behavior of Ti-doped silica films. Au forms a direct covalent bond with substitutional Ti at the expense of the Ti...O-Mo interface bond which breaks. The global process is exothermic by 1 eV and nonactivated, showing that Ti doping results in solid anchoring points for the adsorbed Au atoms and for nucleation and growth of small gold particles. The effect of Ti doping is less pronounced for Pd but still visible with substantial enhancement of the Pd adsorption strength.     

First principles study of oxygen adsorption and dissociation on the Pd/Au surface alloys

The formation of Pd/Au surfaces and their catalytic performance toward oxygen dissociation were investigated using periodic density functional methods. We show that Pd can readily incorporate into the second layer of Au(100) and Au(111) substrates with the assistance of Au vacancies. Pd/Au(100) exhibits better catalytic activity toward oxygen dissociation than Pd/Au(111). Specifically, the sub-layer Pd atoms of Pd/Au(100) can promote the oxygen dissociation and stabilize the surface structure after adsorbing oxygen atoms. On the contrary, the sub-layer Pd atoms of Pd/Au(111) slightly hinder the oxygen dissociation.     

Phosphorene Supported Single-Atom Catalysts for CO Oxidation: A Computational Study

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have attracted extensive attention owing to their high catalytic activity. The development of efficient SACs is crucial for applications in heterogeneous catalysis. In this article, the geometric configuration, electronic structure, stabilitiy and catalytic performance of phosphorene (Pn) supported single metal atoms (M=Ru, Rh, Pd, Ir, Pt, and Au) have been systematically investigated using density functional theory calculations and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. The single atoms are found to occupy the hollow site of phosphorene. Among the catalysts studied, Ru-decorated phosphorene is determined to be a potential catalyst by evaluating adsorption energies of gaseous molecules. Various mechanisms including the Eley-Rideal (ER), Langmuir-Hinshelwood (LH) and trimolecular Eley-Rideal (TER) mechanisms are considered to validate the most favourable reaction pathway. Our results reveal that Ru−Pn exhibits outstanding catalytic activity toward CO oxidation reaction via TER mechanism with the corresponding rate-determining energy barrier of 0.44 eV, making it a very promising SAC for CO oxidation under mild conditions. Overall, this work may provide a new avenue for the design and fabrication of two-dimensional materials supported SACs for low-temperature CO oxidation.     

Nanoclusters Au_(19)Pd and Au_(19)Pt Catalyzing CO Oxidation: a Density Functional Study

The gold atoms on the Au20 cluster had been substituted by the palladium and platinum atoms to obtain the doped clusters with more stable geometries as a function of the bind energy and interaction energy in the previous study. Therefore, we investigated the catalytic activities of the Au_(19)Pd and Au_(19)Pt clusters for CO oxidation along the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism. It is found that the coadsorption of CO and O2 on the doped clusters is obviously stronger than on the Au20 cluster, especially on the doped atom, which makes potential energy of the transition state lower than the total energy of the reactants so that it can promote CO oxidation. The reaction on these doped clusters with the heteroatom on the vertex is more difficult. However, the Au_(19)Pd(S) is more prone to catalyzing the CO oxidation, in which the rate-limiting step has the lower energy barrier of 38.84 kJ/mol for this study. Therefore, the single atom can be modified to change the catalytic activity of the cluster for the CO oxidation. Meanwhile, the different sites on the clusters have different strengths of activity for the reaction.     

Production of an ordered (B2) CuPd nanoalloy by low-temperature annealing under hydrogen atmosphere

CuPd (1/1) nanoalloys composed of disordered body-centered-cubic crystals (crystal size = 1.6 nm) were prepared by synchronous reduction of Cu and Pd precursor ions with NaBH(4). In situ XRD measurement revealed that Cu and Pd atoms in the CuPd nanoalloys are arranged into an ordered B2 structure under exposure to H(2) (5 kPa) at 373 K. Ordering of Cu and Pd atoms over a longer distance (up to 3.6 nm) was achieved by annealing the nanoalloys for a longer time under a H(2) atmosphere.     

Selective hydrogenation by Pd nanoparticles embedded in polyelectrolyte multilayers

Alternating adsorption of poly(acrylic acid) and a polyethylenimine-Pd(II) complex on alumina and subsequent reduction of Pd(II) by NaBH4 yield catalytic Pd nanoparticles embedded in multilayer polyelectrolyte films. The polyelectrolytes limit aggregation of the particles and impart catalytic selectivity in the hydrogenation of alpha-substituted unsaturated alcohols by restricting access to catalytic sites. Hydrogenation of allyl alcohol by encapsulated Pd(0) nanoparticles can occur as much as 24-fold faster than hydrogenation of 3-methyl-1-penten-3-ol. Additionally, the nanoparticle/polyelectrolyte system suppresses unwanted substrate isomerization, when compared to a commercial palladium catalyst. Selective diffusion through poly(acrylic acid)/polyethlyenimine membranes suggests that hydrogenation selectivities are due to different rates of diffusion to nanoparticle catalysts. First-order kinetics are also consistent with a diffusion-limited mechanism. Further exploitation of the versatility of polyelectrolyte films should increase selectivity in hydrogenation as well as other reactions.     

A Single-Atom Manipulation Approach for Synthesis of Atomically Mixed Nanoalloys as Efficient Catalysts

Synthesis of well-defined atomically mixed alloy nanoparticles on desired substrates is an ultimate goal for their practical application. Herein we report a general approach for preparing atomically mixed AuPt, AuPd, PtPd, AuPtPd NAs(nanoalloys) through single-atom level manipulation. By utilizing the ubiquitous tendency of aggregation of single atoms into nanoparticles at elevated temperatures, we have synthesized nanoalloys on a solid solvent with CeO₂ as a carrier and transition-metal single atoms as an intermediate state. The supported nanoalloys/CeO₂ with ultra-low noble metal content (containing 0.2 wt % Au and 0.2 wt % Pt) exhibit enhanced catalytic performance towards complete CO oxidation at room temperature and remarkable thermostability. This work provides a general strategy for facile and rapid synthesis of well-defined atomically mixed nanoalloys that can be applied for a range of emerging techniques.     

Single atom hot-spots at Au-Pd nanoalloys for electrocatalytic H2O2 production

A novel strategy to direct the oxygen reduction reaction to preferentially produce H(2)O(2) is formulated and evaluated. The approach combines the inertness of Au nanoparticles toward oxidation, with the improved O(2) sticking probability of isolated transition metal "guest" atoms embedded in the Au "host". DFT modeling was employed to screen for the best alloy candidates. Modeling indicates that isolated alloying atoms of Pd, Pt, or Rh placed within the Au surface should enhance the H(2)O(2) production relative to pure Au. Consequently, Au(1-x)Pd(x) nanoalloys with variable Pd content supported on Vulcan XC-72 were prepared to investigate the predicted selectivity toward H(2)O(2) production for Au alloyed with Pd. It is demonstrated that increasing the Pd concentration to 8% leads to an increase of the electrocatalytic H(2)O(2) production selectivity up to nearly 95%, when the nanoparticles are placed in an environment compatible with that of a proton exchange membrane. Further increase of Pd content leads to a drop in H(2)O(2) selectivity, to below 10% for x = 0.5. It is proposed that the enhancement in H(2)O(2) selectivity is caused by the presence of individual surface Pd atoms surrounded by gold, whereas surface ensembles of contiguous Pd atoms support H(2)O formation. The results are discussed in the context of exergonic electrocatalytic H(2)O(2) synthesis in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells for the simultaneous cogeneration of chemicals and electricity, the latter a credit to production costs.     

Atomic ensemble and electronic effects in Ag-rich AgPd nanoalloy catalysts for oxygen reduction in alkaline media

The ability to design and characterize uniform, bimetallic alloy nanoparticles, where the less active metal enhances the activity of the more active metal, would be of broad interest in catalysis. Herein, we demonstrate that simultaneous reduction of Ag and Pd precursors provides uniform, Ag-rich AgPd alloy nanoparticles (~5 nm) with high activities for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline media. The particles are crystalline and uniformly alloyed, as shown by X-ray diffraction and probe corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy. The ORR mass activity per total metal was 60% higher for the AgPd(2) alloy relative to pure Pd. The mass activities were 2.7 and 3.2 times higher for Ag(9)Pd (340 mA/mg(metal)) and Ag(4)Pd (598 mA/mg(metal)), respectively, than those expected for a linear combination of mass activities of Ag (60 mA/mg(Ag)) and Pd (799 mA/mg(Pd)) particles, based on rotating disk voltammetry. Moreover, these synergy factors reached 5-fold on a Pd mass basis. For silver-rich alloys (Ag(≥4)Pd), the particle surface is shown to contain single Pd atoms surrounded by Ag from cyclic voltammetry and CO stripping measurements. This morphology is favorable for the high activity through a combination of modified electronic structure, as shown by XPS, and ensemble effects, which facilitate the steps of oxygen bond breaking and desorption for the ORR. This concept of tuning the heteroatomic interactions on the surface of small nanoparticles with low concentrations of precious metals for high synergy in catalytic activity may be expected to be applicable to a wide variety of nanoalloys.     

Counterion distributions and effective interactions of spherical polyelectrolyte brushes

We consider the electrosteric repulsion of colloidal particles whose surface carries a dense layer of long polyelectrolyte chains (spherical polyelectrolyte brushes). The theory of electrosteric repulsion of star polyelectrolytes developed recently is augmented to include particles with a finite core radius. It is shown that most of the counterions are confined within the brush layer. The strong osmotic pressure thus created within the brush layer dominates the repulsive interaction between two such particles. Because of this the pair interaction potential between spherical polyelectrolyte brushes can be given in terms of an analytic expression. The theoretical predictions are compared with available experimental data and semi-quantitative agreement between the two is found.     

Cationic Spherical Polyelectrolyte Brushes as Nanoreactors for the Generation of Gold Particles

Summary: If long polyelectrolyte chains are attached densely to colloidal latex particles, a spherical polyelectrolyte brush results. These spherical polyelectrolytes are dispersed in water and carry a high charge. We demonstrate that these systems can be used to immobilize ions of heavy metals, such as gold, as counter‐ions. Reduction of these ions leads to metallic nanoparticles. In this way the brush layer attached to the surface of the particles becomes a “nanoreactor” that may be used for chemical conversions of the metal ions. We show that the reduction of AuClequation/tex2gif-stack-1.gif ions within these nanoreactors leads to well‐defined and rather monodisperse gold nanoparticles that are attached to the surface of the core. A stable dispersion of polymeric core particles with attached nanoparticles results. All results reported here suggest that chemical reactions of ions immobilized in spherical polyelectrolyte brushes provide a new route to composite particles of inorganic and organic materials.

Transmission electron micrograph of gold particles on a core‐shell system.     

氧化铈形貌对Pd纳米粒子分散的影响

氧化铈由于在氧化和还原气氛下具有快速Ce4+/Ce3+氧化还原循环作用,使其具有优异的储放氧能力,不仅可以分散和稳定金属粒子,还可在界面处与金属物种发生化学键合,并形成活性位点,因此已被广泛应用于多个催化反应体系,且表现出显著的形貌效应.通过对氧化铈形貌进行调控,使其暴露特定(111)、(110)和(100)晶面,已成为调节金属-氧化铈相互作用强度及金属物种电子、几何结构,提高催化性能的有效策略,但对其机制及活性位结构还没有清晰的认识.我们以氧化铈纳米粒子和纳米立方体为载体,其中氧化铈立方体平均尺寸为23 nm,主要暴露6个{100}晶面,边缘和截角暴露少量{110}及{111}晶面;球形氧化铈纳米粒子平均尺寸为11 nm,主要暴露{111}晶面;并进一步将2.0 wt％Pd物种分散在氧化铈立方体和球形纳米粒子上,通过扫描透射电子显微镜(STEM)和X射线光电子能谱(XPS)等研究了钯物种在氧化铈球形粒子和立方体上的原子结构和化学环境,进而分析了纳米结构氧化铈形貌对钯物种分散的影响.在球形氧化铈纳米粒子上主要形成了平均尺寸为2.0 nm的非晶态Pd纳米粒子以及极小的Pd物种,这主要是因为球形氧化铈纳米粒子上丰富的表面氧空位可通过Pd-CeO2强相互作用和Pd物种紧密键合.氧化铈立方体上的晶态Pd粒子尺寸为2.9 nm,金属与载体之间具有明显的界面,且Pd原子嵌入到氧化铈晶格中.同时,CO化学吸附测试也证明了氧化铈球形粒子上的钯分散度(70％)高于氧化铈立方体(52％).对于甲烷燃烧反应,主要涉及发生在金属粒子表面的PdO/Pd氧化还原循环,即Pd被O2氧化,PdO被CH4还原,富氧条件下决速步骤是PdO对CH4中C?H的活化,因此氧化铈立方体表面大尺寸的晶态Pd粒子被氧化后更容易被CH4还原,有利于PdO/Pd氧化还原循环,从而具有更高的活性和稳定性;然而在CO氧化反应中Pd/CeO2却呈现了相反的形貌效应,这是由于该反应遵循Mars-van Krevelen机理:CO吸附在金属Pd上,化学吸附的CO移动到钯-氧化铈界面,被氧化铈晶格氧氧化成CO2,产生的氧空位被表面氧补充,最后表面氧空位被气相氧补充;由于氧化铈球形粒子上的较小尺寸Pd具有更大的钯-氧化铈界面周长和更强的氧物种移动性,更易完成界面处的氧化还原循环,因此具有更高的CO氧化活性.     

Preparation of Au/TiO2 nanocomposites and their catalytic activity for DPPH radical scavenging reaction

Au/TiO2 nanocomposites have been prepared by UV photolysis or chemical reduction of a Au(III) complex formed on a spherical or a rodlike TiO2 support, and their catalytic activity for 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging reaction was investigated. The chemical reduction with dimethylamine borane (DMAB) provided smaller gold nanoparticles than those synthesized by UV photolysis. Type of the TiO2 also affected the size of gold particles; smaller gold particles were deposited on the spherical TiO2 support than on rodlike one. For the radical scavenging reaction, the Au/TiO2 nanocomposites prepared by chemical reduction exhibited a higher catalytic activity than those photochemically prepared, and rodlike TiO2 provided a higher activity than spherical one. The effects of preparation methods and type of TiO2 supports on the catalytic activity are discussed.     

A Single‐Atom Manipulation Approach for Synthesis of Atomically Mixed Nanoalloys as Efficient Catalysts

Synthesis of well‐defined atomically mixed alloy nanoparticles on desired substrates is an ultimate goal for their practical application. Herein we report a general approach for preparing atomically mixed AuPt, AuPd, PtPd, AuPtPd NAs(nanoalloys) through single‐atom level manipulation. By utilizing the ubiquitous tendency of aggregation of single atoms into nanoparticles at elevated temperatures, we have synthesized nanoalloys on a solid solvent with CeO₂ as a carrier and transition‐metal single atoms as an intermediate state. The supported nanoalloys/CeO₂ with ultra‐low noble metal content (containing 0.2 wt % Au and 0.2 wt % Pt) exhibit enhanced catalytic performance towards complete CO oxidation at room temperature and remarkable thermostability. This work provides a general strategy for facile and rapid synthesis of well‐defined atomically mixed nanoalloys that can be applied for a range of emerging techniques.     

Synthesis of thermo- and pH-sensitive polyelectrolyte brushes by combining thermo-controlled emulsion polymerization and photo-emulsion polymerization

Bifunctional spherical polyelectrolyte brushes(SPBs)with tunable thermo-and pH-sensitivity are synthesized by combining thermo-controlled emulsion polymerization and photo-emulsion polymerization.They consist of a spherical polystyrene core and a shell of mixed brushes of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)(PNIPAM)and poly(acrylic acid)(PAA) whose composition can be easily modulated by the dose of monomers.The kinetics of SPB synthesis as well as their size change with temperature and pH is determined by dynamic light scattering(DLS).The scanning electron microscopy(SEM) images show that the bifunctional SPBs have a defined spherical morphology with a narrow size distribution.