Abstract
ABSTRACTThe young history of sputtering onto a liquid features great achievements in the green production of various metal and metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) and nanoclusters (NCs). Studies on how the sputtering parameters affect the properties of NPs and NCs have elucidated their formation mechanism and marked a crucial role of liquid matrix in the nucleation and growth of particles, controlling their various properties. Current research has been devoted to making alloy bi- and trimetallic NPs with a high level of control over the NP structure, composition, and size via well-designed target systems, sputtering steps, and liquid matrix materials. In this minireview, we discuss the recent advances in the use of various types of targets to prepare different bi- and trimetallic NPs. In single target sputtering, systems with alternative configurations of metals, alloy targets, monometallic targets in sequence, and a combination of sputtering and chemical reactions have been developed. On the other hand, a double head system was introduced to widen the range of controllable sputtering parameters yielding more versatility in particle composition and fine structure. The synergistic and tuneable properties exhibited by the multi-metallic components in small NPs and NCs for their use in catalysis and optical applications are discussed.
Highlights
CLASSIFICATION 60 New topics / Others; 102 Porous / Nanoporous / Nanostructured materials; 106 Metallic materials; Optics / Optical applications; Catalyst / Photocatalyst / Photosynthesis; 503 transmission electron microscopy (TEM), STEM, SEM
As for the influence of the liquid medium used on the catalytic activity of the sputtered NPs, it was found that the Pt3Ni alloy NPs obtained in polyethylene glycol (PEG) showed a higher oxidation electro-catalytic activity compared to the Pt NPs, which in turn showed a higher activity than the Pt NPs produced using an ionic liquid (IL)
We have reviewed the synthesis of bi- and trimetallic NPs via vacuum sputtering onto a liquid medium
Summary
Vacuum sputtering is a well-known top-down technique to fabricate thin films based on the bombardment of a target with energetic gas ions formed using Ar, O2, N2 or H2, etc. [1–4]. This, serves as the first step for a very new research field wherein a low vapour pressure liquid is typically used to capture the nanoclusters (NCs) produced by the technique, resulting in the growth of nanoparticles (NPs) in the liquid (Figure 1) This in turn has opened up great opportunities for chemists and materials scientists to work with different liquid substrates and tailor their physicochemical properties for obtaining high-quality NPs and NCs with advanced properties. Sputtering techniques, on the other hand, can produce atoms or clusters of any metal at once by the physical bombardment of energetic gas ions onto metal targets [17–33] This can allow for the production of alloy NPs of various bimetallic systems. In this mini-review, we will discuss the bi- and trimetallic alloy NPs obtained via sputtering onto different liquid matrices by using single target sputtering and by co-sputtering, as well as their structures, properties, and applications (Figure 1)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
