Facile Aqueous-Phase Synthesis of Bimetallic (AgPt, AgPd, and CuPt) and Trimetallic (AgCuPt) Nanoparticles.

Zengmin Tang,Woo-Sik Kim,Euiyoung Jung,Jinheung Kim,Yejin Jang,Taekyung Yu,Suk Ho Bhang

doi:10.3390/ma13020254

Zengmin Tang, Woo-Sik Kim + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13020254

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Abstract

Multi-metallic nanoparticles continue to attract attention, due to their great potential in various applications. In this paper, we report a facile aqueous-phase synthesis for multi-metallic nanoparticles, including AgPt, AgPd, CuPt, and AgCuPt, by a co-reduction method within a short reaction time of 10 min. The atomic ratio of bimetallic nanoparticles was easily controlled by varying the ratio of each precursor. In addition, we found that AgCuPt trimetallic nanoparticles had a core-shell structure with an Ag core and CuPt shell.

Highlights

Multi-metallic nanoparticles, as opposed to mono-metallic nanoparticles, have attracted more attention, with a steady flow of research in various applications, such as sensors, energy conversion and storage, biomedicine, and catalysts [1,2,3,4,5]
By detailed characterization of the synthesized nanoparticles, we found that the AgPt, AgPd, and CuPt nanoparticles had an alloy form, while AgCuPt had a core-shell structure with an Ag core and CuPt shell
The materials used—silver nitrate (AgNO3 ), cupric nitrate hydrate (Cu(NO3 )2 ·3H2 O), potassium tetrachloroplatinate (K2 PtCl4, 99.99%), sodium tetrachloropalladate (Na2 PdCl4, 98%), branched polyethyleneimine (BPEI; molecular weight (MW) = 750,000; 50 wt. % solution in water), and L-ascorbic acid (C6 H8 O6 ≥ 99%)—were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich

Summary

Introduction

Multi-metallic nanoparticles, as opposed to mono-metallic nanoparticles, have attracted more attention, with a steady flow of research in various applications, such as sensors, energy conversion and storage, biomedicine, and catalysts [1,2,3,4,5]. The electronic structure of the multi-metallic particles can be modulated repeatedly, due to different binding forces on electrons between various metal atoms, enhancing their catalytic performance in catalysis [6,7]. Kim and co-workers showed that AuCu alloy nanoparticles exhibited better catalytic activity than Au or Cu in the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide, because the alloy nanoparticles changed surface composition, affecting the d-band and atomic arrangement at the active sites [10]. Hu and co-workers could obtain higher electrochemical performance for formic acid oxidation by using PdNiCu trimetallic alloy nanoparticles as electrocatalysts [11]. Due to the different electronic structure compared with Pd and PdCu, PdNiCu alloys revealed low poisoning and better stability than Pd and PdCu nanoparticles

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