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Updated: Feb 14, 2026

A Rapid Synthesis Method for Au, Pd, and Pt Aerogels Via Direct Solution-Based Reduction
Published on: June 18, 2018
Gold-Copper Aerogels with Intriguing Surface Electronic Modulation as Highly Active and Stable Electrocatalysts for
Jiali Wang1, Fuyi Chen1, Yachao Jin1
1State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, 710072, PR China.
Abstract:
We, for the first time, report the successful synthesis of self-assembled AuCu aerogels by a one-pot kinetically controlled approach. A startling electronic modulation effect of Cu on Au was observed across the entire alloy composition range, for which the optimal upshift of the d-band center for the highest activities was 0.24 eV. Owing to the combination of a nanoporous architecture and a robust electronic effect, the Au52 Cu48 aerogels exhibited better catalytic performance for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the direct borohydride oxidation reaction (BOR) than commercial Pt/C catalysts. The specific and mass ORR activities were 4.5 and 6.3 times higher, respectively, on the Au52 Cu48 aerogels than on Pt/C with negligible activity decay even after 10 000 cycles and a duration of 40 000 s. For the BOR, the Au52 Cu48 aerogels also exhibited far better selectivity and activity than Pt/C. The new AuCu aerogels show great potential as a promising alternative for Pt-based catalysts in fuel cells.
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