Abstract
Herein, we suggest a methodology for the fabrication of well-defined metallic nanoporous spheres with single gyroid (SG) structure by simply using self-assembled diblock copolymer with double gyroid (DG) structure as a template for electroless plating. Note that owing to the consideration of thermodynamic stability, the self-assembly of diblock copolymers gives rise to a DG phase instead of an SG phase. By controlling the nucleus density for the reduction of Pd ions within the diblock copolymer template, SG-structured Ni can be easily fabricated through the nucleation and growth processes. Consequently, nanoporous Ni spheres with uniform pore sizes and high specific surface areas can be fabricated. Moreover, nanoporous Ni spheres with controlled microscale particle sizes can thus be obtained by controlling the reduction time for the growth of Ni, which enables the feasibility of recyclability via magnetic fields. The combination of structural and morphological characteristics of the fabricated nanoporous Ni spheres make them appealing for use in a wide variety of applications, such as high-efficiency and well selectivity hydrogenation catalysts with recyclability due to their narrow pore size distributions, high specific surface areas, 3D curved surfaces, and controlled microscale particle sizes.
Highlights
Nanostructural and morphological designs of metallic materials have drawn much attention because of their effectiveness in tuning electronic, optical, and magnetic properties[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]
As previously demonstrated by our laboratory, nanoporous PS with DGstructured nanochannels can be fabricated by either hydrolyzing self-assembled PS-PLLA or HF etching of PSPDMS, which can be used as templates for the fabrication of double gyroid (DG)-structured Ni through templated electroless plating[32,39,40]
In conclusion, metallic nanoporous spheres (MNSs) with single gyroid (SG) structures can be successfully fabricated by using a DG-structured PS template for electroless plating through nucleation and growth mechanisms using a low nucleus density strategy for reduction
Summary
Nanostructural and morphological designs of metallic materials have drawn much attention because of their effectiveness in tuning electronic, optical, and magnetic properties[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. The synthesis of nanoporous metals with controlled pore size and shape has become a main goal of extensive research on catalytic materials in recent years[11,12,13]. It is essential to determine how to increase both the surface area to mass ratio and the density of catalytic sites of nanoporous metals to boost their surface activity performances over those of conventional 2D sheets. The fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) porous metals, with nanoscale network textures, is in strong demand because of their large specific surface areas from the reduced pore sizes and self-supporting characteristics with low densities (i.e., lower required mass for equivalent catalytic efficiency).
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