11/7/2015

HollowPlatinumNanoparticlesBoostReactionEfficiency|July27,2015IssueVol.93Issue30|Chemical&EngineeringNews

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Home>Volume93Issue30>HollowPlatinumNanoparticlesBoostReactionEfficiency

Volume93Issue30|p.12|NewsofTheWeek
IssueDate:July27,2015|WebDate:July23,2015

HollowPlatinumNanoparticlesBoostReaction
Efficiency

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Materials:Shellsofthepreciousmetaljustafewatomsthickserveasactive,robustcatalysts

HeliumBeer,FromPrankToTank

ByMitchJacoby

10StartUpsToWatch

Department:Science&Technology
NewsChannels:MaterialsSCENE,NanoSCENE
Keywords:catalyst,platinum,coreshell,palladium,heterogeneouscatalysis

TinyBitsOfPlasticFoundInTable
SaltInChina
SimpleKitTestsRiceForArsenic
AllisonCampbellWinsACS
PresidentElect

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Wastenot,wantnot.Thefamiliaradageappliesequallywelltocooks,
carpenters,andcatalystmanufacturers.Thelastgrouphaslongtriedtofigure
outwaystomaximizetheuseofpreciousmetalsusedformakingcatalysts.A
newmethodforpreparinghollowplatinumnanocrystalsjustafewatomsthick
maygivethoseeffortsaneededboost(Science2015,DOI:
10.1126/science.aab0801).
Astandardwaytooptimizetheamountofmetalusedinacatalystistoreduce
thesizeofthecatalystparticles.Thesmallertheparticle,thegreaterthe
fractionofatomsthatresideonitssurface,wheretheyareaccessibleto
catalyzechemicalreactions.

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[Almost]AffordableReality

Chemistscanpreparemetalparticlesjustacoupleofnanometersindiameter
anddispersethemonasupportstructure.Butundertypicalhightemperature
andhighpressureindustrialreactionconditions,suchsmallparticlestendto
diffuseandcoalesce,forminglargerclumps,ortheydetachfromthesupport
material,anyofwhichreducescatalyticactivity.
Now,LeiZhangandYounanXiaofGeorgiaTechandcolleagueshave
comeupwithawaytomakehollowplatinumnanoparticleswithultrathinwalls
thatremaindurableduringextendedcatalyticreactions.Thehollownatureof
theseatomicallythinparticlesleavesalargefractionoftheatomsaccessible
forcatalysis,maximizingtheparticlesactivity.

Atomiclayersofplatinum(yellow)aredepositedon
palladium(green)followedbyselectiveetchingof
thepalladiumnanocrystalstomakecatalytically
active,hollownanosizedcubesandoctahedra,as

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Theteamfirstdepositedjustafewatomiclayersofplatinumonpalladium
nanocrystalsandthenselectivelyetchedthepalladiuminanacidsolution.
Theprocessyieldedcrystalline,hollowplatinumshellsnanocagesjust
threeorfouratomiclayersthick.Thenanocagescrystallinitywascontrolledby
thepalladiumtemplateparticles.Cubicpalladiumcoresledtoshellswithone
typeofcrystalgeometryandoctahedralcores,adifferentgeometry.

Thegroupevaluatedthenanocagescatalyticpropertiesbyusingthemto
mediatetheoxygenreductionreaction,aclassicfuelcellprocessthat
convertsoxygentowater.Theyfoundthatoctahedralplatinumnanocages
wereroughlytwiceasactiveascubicones,andbothtypesofparticleswere
moreactivethansolid,commercialplatinumcatalysts.Theyalsofoundthenewnanocagestobedurable,losingjustonethirdof
theiractivityafter10,000catalyticcycles.
showninthesemodels.
Credit:YounanXia/GeorgiaTech

Thisnovelapproachcouldpromotethenextbreakthrough,notonlyinfuelcellcatalysisbutalsoinwatersplittingandother
catalyticsystems,remarksmaterialschemistJiye(James)FangofBinghamtonUniversity,SUNY.Headdsthatthecatalytic
activityofthisunoptimizedsystemmaybeenhancedbyalloyingplatinumwithothermetals.

http://cen.acs.org/articles/93/i30/HollowPlatinumNanoparticlesBoostReaction.html

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11/7/2015

HollowPlatinumNanoparticlesBoostReactionEfficiency|July27,2015IssueVol.93Issue30|Chemical&EngineeringNews

hemical&EngineeringNews
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ISSN00092347
Copyright2015AmericanChemicalSociety

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