Electrosorption of hydrogen into palladium-gold alloys

Hydrogen electrosorption into Pd-Au alloys has been studied in acidic solutions (1 M H₂SO₄) using cyclic voltammetry. Pd-Au electrodes with limited volume were prepared by electrochemical co-deposition. It was found that the maximum H/(Pd+Au) ratios decrease monotonically with increasing gold content and reach zero at ca. 70 at% Au. Similarly to the case of Pd limited volume electrodes, two peaks in the hydrogen region, corresponding to two types of sorbed hydrogen, are observed on voltammograms for Pd-rich alloys. The hydrogen capacity, H/(Pd+Au), measured electrochemically, depends on the sweep rate in the cyclic voltammetry experiments, which suggests that two different mechanisms for hydrogen desorption from the Pd-Au alloy are possible. After a strong decrease of Pd concentration at the electrode surface, caused by long cyclic polarization to sufficiently anodic potentials, the amount of absorbed hydrogen is still significant for alloys initially rich in Pd. The results obtained from CO adsorption experiments suggest that only Pd atoms are active in the hydrogen absorption/desorption process. Electronic Publication     

Influence of hydrogen electrosorption on surface oxidation of Pd and Pd-noble metal alloys

Electrochemical oxidation of freshly deposited Pd and its alloys with other noble metals (Au, Pt, Rh) was compared with the behavior of samples subjected to prior hydrogen absorption/desorption procedure. It was found that surface oxidation of hydrogen-treated Pd and Pd–Pt–Au deposits starts at lower potentials than on non-hydrided electrodes and is accompanied by a negative shift of surface oxide reduction peak. Pd and its alloys with Au, Pt and Rh after hydrogen treatment are also more resistant to electrochemical dissolution than freshly deposited samples.     

The anodic oxidation of gold + palladium alloys

The anodic oxidation of Au+Pd alloys has been studied in solutions of 1 M H₂SO₄ and 0.1 M K₂SO₄ by voltammetric methods. A linear relationship between oxide reduction maximum and bulk alloy composition, often used to determine the surface composition of homogeneous alloys, could be shown to hold only for alloys up to 60 at% gold. At higher gold content the Au oxide peak must be additionally evaluated. With continuous cycling in acid solution the anodic dissolution of Pd, especially from gold-rich places, leads to a rather heterogeneous surface. The O--chemisorption is not governed by a transfer mechanism from Pd to Au surface atoms. The alloys are able to absorb the oxygen species generated in the positive potential region; however, this ability decreases with increase of the gold content.     

DFT-based Machine Learning for Ensemble Effect of Pd@Au Electrocatalysts on CO2 Reduction Reaction

The ensemble effect due to variation of Pd content in Pd−Au alloys have been widely investigated for several important reactions, including CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR), however, identifying the stable Pd arrangements on the alloyed surface and picking out the active sites are still challenging. Here we use a density functional theory (DFT) based machine-learning (ML) approach to efficiently find the low-energy configurations of Pd−Au(111) surface alloys and the potentially active sites for CO₂RR, fully covering the Pd content from 0 to 100 %. The ML model is actively learning process to improve the predicting accuracy for the configuration formation energy and to find the stable Pd−Au(111) alloyed surfaces, respectively. The local surface properties of adsorption sites are classified into two classes by the K-means clustering approach, which are closely related to the Pd content on Au surface. The classification is reflected in the variation of adsorption energy of CO and H: In the low Pd content range (0–60 %) the adsorption energies over the surface alloys can be tuned significantly, and in the medium Pd content (37-68 %), the catalytic activity of surface alloys for CO₂RR can be increased by increase the Pd content and attributed to the meta-stable active site over the surface. Thus, the active site-dependent reaction mechanism is elucidated based on the ensemble effect, which provides new physical insights to understand the surface-related properties of catalysts.     

Concerted Catalysis by Adjacent Palladium and Gold in Alloy Nanoparticles for the Versatile and Practical [2+2+2] Cycloaddition of Alkynes

A Pd‐Au alloy efficiently catalyzed the [2+2+2] cycloaddition of substituted alkynes. Whereas monometallic Pd and Au catalysts were totally ineffective, Pd‐Au alloy nanoparticle catalysts with a low Pd/Au molar ratio showed high activity to give the corresponding polysubstituted arenes in high yields. A variety of substituted alkynes participated in various modes of cycloaddition under Pd‐Au alloy catalysis. The Pd‐Au alloy catalysts exhibited high air tolerance and reusability.     

Chemical Composition and Structure–Vacancy Disordering in Ag–Au,Cu–Au,Ag–Pd,and Cu–Pd Alloys as Factors of Their Electrocatalytic Activity

The oxalic acid electrooxidation kinetics is studied at polycrystalline electrodes of vacancy-disordered Au* and Pd* obtained by anodically modifying in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ the surface of Ag–Au, Cu–Au, Ag–Pd, and Cu–Pd alloys containing no less than 50 at. % of the noble metal. It is found that a qualitative correlation exists between variations in thermodynamic and electrocatalytic activities of both Au* and Pd* following a change in the surface concentration of vacancies in alloys of constant composition and in the volume concentration of the electronegative component in alloys with approximately identical concentrations of vacancies. Such a correlation may be due to the existence of some factor through which an anodically-modified alloy affects the electrocatalytic process. The factor, presumably the alloy's electronic structure, is more generic than the alloy's volume composition, the nature of components, and the vacancy concentration.     

氢和硫原子在Pd、Au和Cu及PdAu、PdCu合金(111)表面吸附的密度泛函研究

用密度泛函理论研究了氢和硫原子在金属Pd、Au、Cu以及合金PdM3、Pd2M2 和Pd3M(111)表面的吸附(M=Au, Cu), 得到了覆盖率为0.25时最稳定的吸附位、结合能以及吸附前后表面的驰豫情况. 结果表明, 氢和硫均与Pd形成最稳定的吸附, Cu次之, Au的吸附最弱, 其在三种纯金属(111)表面的最稳定吸附位均为fcc位. 由于PdAu合金具有较大的晶格常数, Pd3Au 合金吸附氢的结合能甚至较纯Pd更大, 除此之外, 氢和硫在PdM合金表面的吸附基本随M组分的增加而减弱, 而最稳定的吸附位随金属种类和组成变化而变化. 根据计算得到的吸附结合能, 发现与PdCu合金相比, PdAu合金在Au含量较低(约25%, 摩尔分数)时, 氢和硫吸附的结合能下降较慢, 而Au含量较高(跃50%)时, 结合能迅速下降, 这表明含金量为25%-50%的PdAu合金有可能在保持相近透氢性能的同时, 比PdCu合金具有更好的抗硫毒性.     

Unique activity of Pd monomers: hydrogen evolution at AuPd(111) surface alloys

Well-defined Au/Pd(111) alloy films have been prepared on a Ru(0001) substrate by electrochemical metal deposition and subsequent heating up to 700 degrees C. The electrochemical behaviour of the 20 monolayers thick epitaxially-grown films is in excellent agreement with both equilibrium surface composition and distribution for Au/Pd alloys on Mo(110) as previously reported (D. W. Goodman et al., J. Phys. Chem., 2005, B109, 18535). The electrocatalytic activity of the AuPd(111) surface alloys was studied for the hydrogen evolution in 0.1 M H(2)SO(4) as a function of surface composition. Maximum activities were found for Pd fractions of 0.2 +/- 0.1, where the population of Pd atoms surrounded by Au has its maximum. These Pd monomers are found to be about 20 times more active than Pd atoms in the Pd overlayer.     

Correlations between hydrogen electrosorption properties and composition of Pd-noble metal alloys

Hydrogen adsorption on and absorption into Pd alloys with other noble metals was studied in acidic solutions (0.5 M H₂SO₄) using cyclic voltammetry. Correlations were found between the potentials of adsorbed/absorbed hydrogen oxidation peaks and surface/bulk compositions of Pd–Rh alloys. The potential of the α–β-phase transition depends linearly on Pd bulk content in Pd–Au, Pd–Rh, Pd–Pt and Pd–Pt–Rh alloys. The obtained relationships can be utilized for the determination of the composition of homogeneous Pd-noble alloys from hydrogen electrosorption experiments.     

Palladium monolayer and palladium alloy electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction

We investigated the oxygen-reduction reaction (ORR) on Pd monolayers on various surfaces and on Pd alloys to obtain a substitute for Pt and to elucidate the origin of their activity. The activity of Pd monolayers supported on Ru(0001), Rh(111), Ir(111), Pt(111), and Au(111) increased in the following order: Pd/Ru(0001) < Pd/Ir(111) < Pd/Rh(111) < Pd/Au(111) < Pd/Pt(111). Their activity was correlated with their d-band centers, which were calculated using density functional theory (DFT). We found a volcano-type dependence of activity on the energy of the d-band center of Pd monolayers, with Pd/Pt(111) at the top of the curve. The activity of the non-Pt Pd2Co/C alloy electrocatalyst nanoparticles that we synthesized was comparable to that of commercial Pt-containing catalysts. The kinetics of the ORR on this electrocatalyst predominantly involves a four-electron step reduction with the first electron transfer being the rate-determining step. The downshift of the d-band center of the Pd "skin", which constitutes the alloy surface due to the strong surface segregation of Pd at elevated temperatures, determined its high ORR activity. Additionally, it showed very high methanol tolerance, retaining very high catalytic activity for the ORR at high concentrations of methanol. Provided its stability is satisfactory, this catalyst might possibly replace Pt in fuel-cell cathodes, especially those of direct methanol oxidation fuel cells (DMFCs).     

细菌吸附还原贵金属离子特性及表征

提炼、富集贵金属是细菌固定金属的重要用途．部分细菌还可还原金属离子,如海藻、枯草杆菌等均有较强的吸附、还原AU3+等金属离子的能力[1~3]．本文研究了从生态环境中筛选的几种细菌及其吸附、还原Pd2+、Pt4+、Au3+、Ag+、Rh3+等贵金属离子的特性,以期了解细菌固定金属的作用机制,提高细菌的还原能力,并将所得结果用于回收贵金属和制备高分散度贵金属催化剂．1实验部分D01细菌从生态环境中筛选、培养,并按常规微生物法制备大量菌体．所用仪器为SCR20BC高速冷冻离心机,BairdPS－4电感耦合等离子原子发射光谱仪,740SXFTIR光…     

Formation of Pd/Au nanostructures from Pd nanowires via galvanic replacement reaction

Bimetallic nanostructures with non-random metal atoms distribution are very important for various applications. To synthesize such structures via benign wet chemistry approach remains challenging. This paper reports a synthesis of a Au/Pd alloy nanostructure through the galvanic replacement reaction between Pd ultrathin nanowires (2.4 +/- 0.2 nm in width, over 30 nm in length) and AuCl3 in toluene. Both morphological and structural changes were monitored during the reaction up to 10 h. Continuous changes of chemical composition and crystalline structure from Pd nanowires to Pd68Au32 and Pd45Au55 alloys, and to Au nanoparticles were observed. More interestingly, by using combined techniques such as high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), UV-vis absorption, and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy, we found the formation of Pd68Au32 non-random alloy with Au-rich core and Pd-rich shell, and random Pd45Au55 alloy with uniformly mixed Pd and Au atom inside the nanoparticles, respectively. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicated that alkylamine will strongly stabilize Pd to the surface, resulting in diffusion of Au atoms into the core region to form a non-random alloy. We believe such benign synthetic techniques can also enable the large scale preparation of various types of non-random alloys for several technically important catalysis applications.     

Selected electrochemical properties of Pd–Au alloys: hydrogen absorption and surface oxidation

Hydrogen absorption into and surface oxidation of Pd–Au alloys in acidic solutions were studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA) coupled with the electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM). The influence of alloy bulk and surface composition on the process of oxidation of absorbed hydrogen was examined. The stresses induced by hydrogen insertion in Pd–Au alloys were compared with the case of pure Pd. The potential corresponding to the formation of a monolayer of surface oxide was determined for Pd–Au alloys of different surface states. Electrochemical dissolution of Pd–Au alloys was investigated.     

Synthesis of N-Methyl-2-Thioimidazole Resin and Its Complex Behavior for Noble Metal Ions

The functional group capacity and the percentage of functional group conversion of crosslinked polystyrene resin bearing N-methyl-2-thioimidazole (MTIR) synthesized under optimum conditions are as high as 4.08 mmol/g resin and 96.0%, respectively. The apparent activation energies of sorption of MTIR for Au(III) and Pt(IV) are 13.1 and 13.4 kJ/mol, respectively. The sorption behavior of MTIR for Au(III), Pt(IV), and Pd(II) obeys the Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms. The sorption capacities of MTIR for Au(III), Pt(IV), and Pd(II) are as high as 4.33, 2.12, and 2.33 mmol/g resin, respectively. Au(III), Pt(IV), and Pd(II) adsorbed on MTIR can be eluted quantitatively by the eluant. The resin can be regenerated easily and reused without an obvious decrease in the sorption capacity for Au(III) and Pd(II). The resin has high sorption selectivity for noble metal ions. Au(III) can be separated quantitatively in the presence of high concentrations of Cu²⁺, Fe³⁺, Ni²⁺, and Mn²⁺. The recovery of platinum from the spent industrial catalysts is 98.6% by MTIR. The preconcentration and separation of palladium and platinum from the anode deposits of electrolysis of crude copper have been investigated. The resin may have potential industrial uses.     

Phase equilibria in the palladium-rich part of the Pd–Au–Cu–Sn quaternary system

The solubility of tin in the phases of Pd–Au–Sn and Pd–Cu–Sn ternary systems and a Pd–Au–Cu–Sn quaternary system with a fixed Pd: Au: Cu ratio of 11.1: 1: 4.6 is studied via microstructural, X-ray diffraction, and energy dispersive analysis. It is found that a quaternary alloy in equilibrium with a solid solution based on Pd, Au, and Sn contains a τ₁ compound with structure which is derivative of the In type. It contains ~15 at % Sn and is a solid solution of the same compounds identified earlier in Pd–Au–Sn and Pd–Cu–Sn ternary systems. In addition, a quaternary alloy with a content of 20 at % Sn also contains a τ₂ compound with the Pd₂CuSn own type and can barely dissolve gold. The obtained data are used to construct a three-dimensional model of the Pd-rich part of the isothermal tetrahedron of the Pd–Au–Cu–Sn system and diagrams of the tin solubility isolines in palladium-rich alloys of the quaternary system at 500°С.     

The binary alloy system Au/Pd; a SIMS study

Sputtering yields, positive secondary ion yields and relative degrees of ionization of sputtered atoms under bombardement of 10keV O₂⁺-ions have been determined for the single-phase binary alloy system Au/Pd. A weak minimum of the total sputtering yields was observed at a Pd-concentration around 75% atomic.Strong surface topography was found after high-dose ion bombardment. Sputtering yields, together with surface enrichment factors determined by Auger Electron Spectroscopy have been used to calculate surface binding energies for both alloy components.The apparent degree of ionization for positive ions shows a different behaviour for the two alloy components; whereas an almost constant value was found for Au, a distinct maximum at a Pd-concentration of about 40% was observed for Pd. The measurements indicate that, in the concentration range investigated, the concept of constant relative sensitivity factors would yield large analytical errors when applied to the quantization of secondary ion mass spectra of Au/Pd alloys.     

Xylenol Orange‐Functionalized Halloysite Nanotubes as a Novel Adsorbent for Selective Solid‐phase Extraction and Determination of Trace Noble Elements

A novel method using xylenol orange‐modified halloysite nanotubes as a solid‐phase sorbent has been developed for the simultaneous preconcentration and separation of trace Au(III ) and Pd(II ) prior to their determination by inductively coupled plasma‐atomic emission spectrometry (ICP‐AES ). The experimental effects of pH , the amount of adsorbent, sample flow rate, sample volume, interfering ions, and the elution condition were investigated in detail. Au(III ) and Pd(II ) were retained on the column at pH 3, and eluted with 2.0 mL of 1.0 mol/L HCl + 2% CS (NH₂ )₂ solution. Common interfering ions did not have any impact on the adsorption, separation, and determination. An enrichment factor of 150 was obtained. The maximum adsorption capacities of the adsorbent were 41.63 and 47.82 mg/g for Au(III ) and Pd(II ), respectively, under the optimum conditions. By the definition of IUPAC , the detection limits (3σ ) of this method for Au(III ) and Pd(II ) were 0.31 and 0.27 ng/mL , and the relative standard deviations (RSDs ) were 2.7 and 3.2%, respectively (n = 8). This newly developed method was verified by certified reference materials, and has been successfully applied to the determination of trace Au(III ) and Pd(II ) in mine samples with satisfactory results. It can be confidently predicted that the method can be used for the determination trace Au(III ) and Pd(II ) in other real samples because of its high selectivity, sensitivity, and reproducibility.     

Achieving optimum hydrogen permeability in PdAg and PdAu alloys

The present work investigates both the diffusivity and permeability of hydrogen (H) in palladium-silver (PdAg) and palladium-gold (PdAu) alloys over a 400-1200 K temperature range for Pd(100-X)M(X), M=Ag or Au and X=0%-48% using density functional theory (DFT) and kinetic Monte Carlo simulations (KMC). DFT has been employed to obtain octahedral (O)-, tetrahedral (T)-, and transition state (TS)- site energetics as a function of local alloy composition for several PdAg and PdAu alloys with compositions in supercells of X=14.18%, 25.93%, 37.07%, and 48.15% with the nearest (NNs) and next nearest neighbors (NNNs) varied over the entire range of compositions. The estimates were then used to obtain a model relating the O, T, and TS energies of a given site with NN(X), NNN(X), and the lattice constant. The first passage approach combined with KMC simulations was used for the H diffusion coefficient predictions. It was found that the diffusion coefficient of H in PdAg alloy decreases with increasing Ag and increases with increasing temperature, matching closely with the experimental results reported in the literature. The calculated permeabilities of H in these novel binary alloys obtained from both diffusivity and solubility predictions were found to have a maximum at approximately 20% Ag and approximately 12% Au, which agree well with experimental predictions. Specifically, the permeability of H in PdAg alloy with approximately 20% Ag at 456 K is three to four times that of pure Pd, while the PdAu alloy at 12% Au is four to five times that of pure Pd at 456 K.     

Pyrimidinethiol as a reagent for extraction separation of platinum metals and gold Determination of Pd(II), Os(VIII) and Ru(III)

The solvent extraction separation of Pt(IV), Pd(II), Os(VIII), Ru(III) and Au(III) from one another and also from Rh(III) and Ir(III) with 1-(2'-nitro-4'-tolyl)-4,4,6-trimethyl-(1H, 4H)-2-pyrimidinethiol has been investigated. Photometric procedures have been developed for the determination of Pd(II), Os(VIII) and Ru(III) with the same reagent. The reagent allows the enrichment of Pd(II) and Au(III) at the trace level from a large volume of aqueous medium even in the presence of base metals. The method can be used for the determination of platinum metals and gold in alloys.     

In Situ Formation of Au–Pd Bimetallic Active Sites Promoting the Physically Mixed Monometallic Catalysts in the Liquid‐Phase Oxidation of Alcohols

The catalytic oxidation of alcohols with molecular oxygen on supported nanometallic catalysts represents one of the green methods in a crucial process for the synthesis of fine chemicals. We have designed an experiment using physically mixed Au/AC and Pd/AC (AC=activated carbon) as the catalyst in the liquid‐phase oxidation of benzyl alcohol by aerobic oxygen. The evolution of the physically mixed catalyst structures at different stages in the catalytic reaction was investigated by aberration‐corrected high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy and spatially resolved element mapping techniques at the nanometre scale, and they were also compared with the structure of the bimetallic alloy. For the first time we show the formation of surface Au–Pd bimetallic sites by reprecipitation of Pd onto Au nanoparticles. Negligible Au leaching was observed. The in situ structural evolution can be directly correlated to the great enhancement of the catalyst activity. Moreover, we distinguish the different behaviours of Au and Pd, thus suggesting an oxygen differentiating mechanism for Au and Pd sites. The findings are of great importance to both the understanding of the structure–activity correlation and the design of highly active catalysts in green chemistry.