Intermetallic Nanoarchitectures for Efficient Electrocatalysis.

Abstract

Intermetallic structures whose regular atomic arrays of constituent elements present unique catalytic properties have attracted considerable attention as efficient electrocatalysts for energy conversion reactions. Further performance enhancement in intermetallic catalysts hinges on constructing catalytic surfaces possessing high activity, durability, and selectivity. In this Perspective, we introduce recent endeavors to boost the performance of intermetallic catalysts by generating nanoarchitectures, which have well-defined size, shape, and dimension. We discuss the beneficial effects of nanoarchitectures compared with simple nanoparticles in catalysis. We highlight that the nanoarchitectures have high intrinsic activity owing to their inherent structural factors, including controlled facets, surface defects, strained surfaces, nanoscale confinement effects, and a high density of active sites. We next present notable examples of intermetallic nanoarchitectures, namely, facet-controlled intermetallic nanocrystals and multidimensional nanomaterials. Finally, we suggest the future research directions of intermetallic nanoarchitectures.