Novel Au-Pd bimetallic core-shell nanocomplex and its catalytic activity modulation

A novel kind of polymer supported bimetallic nanocomplex was synthesized by a 'two-step' method. In this kind of complex, gold nanoparticles, which were stabilized by the tri-block copolymer chains, acted as the core and the Pd nanoparticles were in the shell. The gold nanoparticles and the Pd nanoparticles were connected by a kind of temperature sensitive polymer, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM). The bimetallic nanocomplex exhibited excellent catalytic activities in the reduction reaction, and also, the catalytic activity of the nanocomplex could be easily tuned by changing the weight ratio of two metallic particles. Because of the temperature sensitivity of PNIPAM block, the distance between gold nanoparticles and the Pd nanoparticles could be changed or tuned by changing the temperature of its aqueous solution. This novel property would be widely used in the area of testing and microelectronic devices.