Abstract
Metallic core–shell nanostructures have inspired prominent research interests due to their better performances in catalytic, optical, electric, and magnetic applications as well as the less cost of noble metal than monometallic nanostructures, but limited by the complicated and expensive synthesis approaches. Development of one-pot and inexpensive method for metallic core–shell nanostructures’ synthesis is therefore of great significance. A novel Cu network supported nanoporous Ag-Cu alloy with an Ag shell and an Ag-Cu core was successfully synthesized by one-pot chemical dealloying of Zr-Cu-Ag-Al-O amorphous/crystalline composite, which provides a new way to prepare metallic core–shell nanostructures by a simple method. The prepared nanoporous Ag-Cu@Ag core-shell alloy demonstrates excellent air-stability at room temperature and enhanced oxidative stability even compared with other reported Cu@Ag core-shell micro-particles. In addition, the nanoporous Ag-Cu@Ag core-shell alloy also possesses robust antibacterial activity against E. Coli DH5α. The simple and low-cost synthesis method as well as the excellent oxidative stability promises the nanoporous Ag-Cu@Ag core-shell alloy potentially wide applications.
Highlights
Metallic nanostructures possess many novel properties that are profoundly different from their bulk counterparts, which endow them wide applications in sensors, catalyst and energy[1,2,3,4,5]
Through introducing a proper amount of oxygen into the Zr-Cu-Ag-Al alloy, Cu network supported nanoporous Ag-Cu@Ag core-shell alloy was successfully prepared by a simple one-pot chemical dealloying process at room temperature
The true composition of the Zr-Cu-Ag-Al-O ribbon sample was confirmed to be about Zr38Cu40Ag7Al7O8 by energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) in scanning electron microscope (SEM)
Summary
Metallic nanostructures possess many novel properties that are profoundly different from their bulk counterparts, which endow them wide applications in sensors, catalyst and energy[1,2,3,4,5]. Metallic materials with core-shell nanostructures have demonstrated many potential applications, there are still many difficulties to obtain such core–shell nanostructured materials in a simple and less costly way towards routine large-scale synthesis[15, 16]. Nanostructured copper and silver are widely used in the electronic devices, sensors, catalyst and anti-bacteria materials. The nanostructure morphology evolution as well as the anti-oxidation and antibacterial properties of nanoporous Ag-Cu@Ag core-shell alloy were investigated. By using this method, other functional materials with core-shell nanostructure may be synthesised, which can promote their potential applications
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