A Universal Solid-Phase Synthetic Strategy for Ultrafine Intermetallic Libraries Confined in Ordered Mesoporous...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Catalysis

Background:

• Ordered intermetallic nanocatalysts offer superior catalytic activity and stability compared to random alloys.
• Synthesizing ultrafine intermetallic nanocatalysts is challenging due to sintering and phase separation at high temperatures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a universal, scalable solid-phase method for synthesizing ultrafine intermetallic nanocatalysts.
• To create a diverse library of intermetallic nanocatalysts with enhanced stability and performance.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a solid-phase synthesis approach to confine metals within ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) supports.
• Employed strong physical confinement and chemical interactions to prevent sintering and phase separation up to 1000 °C.
• Synthesized libraries of binary to senary intermetallic nanocatalysts using platinum, palladium, and rhodium hosts with 15 guest elements.

Main Results:

• Successfully synthesized ultrafine intermetallic nanocatalysts with uniform size distributions and wide compositional spaces.
• Demonstrated remarkable suppression of high-temperature sintering and phase separation.
• Developed intermetallic PtFe nanocatalysts exhibiting up to tenfold higher activity than commercial Pt/C for oxygen reduction and hydrogen evolution reactions.

Conclusions:

• The developed solid-phase method provides a feasible and scalable route for industrial synthesis of intermetallic nanocatalysts.
• The synthesized intermetallic nanocatalysts show exceptional performance, comparable to state-of-the-art electrocatalysts.
• This work offers a versatile intermetallic library for diverse catalytic applications.