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Updated: May 30, 2025

In Situ SIMS and IR Spectroscopy of Well-defined Surfaces Prepared by Soft Landing of Mass-selected Ions
Published on: June 16, 2014
Heteroatom number-dependent cluster frameworks in structurally comparable Pd-Au nanoclusters
1Department of Chemistry and Centre for Atomic Engineering of Advanced Materials, Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials of Ministry of Education, Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chemistry for Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Functionalized Materials, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, P. R. China. kangxi_chem@ahu.edu.cn.
Abstract:
Investigating the impact of heteroatom alloying extents on regulating the cluster structures is crucial for the fabrication of cluster-based nanomaterials with customized properties. Herein, two structurally comparable PdAu12 (x = 1, 2) nanoclusters with a uniform surface environment but completely distinct kernel configurations were controllably synthesized and structurally determined. The single Pd-alloyed Pd1Au12 nanocluster retained an icosahedral metal framework, while the Pd2Au12 nanocluster with two Pd heteroatoms exhibited a unique toroidal configuration. The additional Pd heteroatom not only led to significant changes in the cluster frameworks but also profoundly affected their electrocatalytic CO2 reduction performance. The Pd1Au12 nanocluster demonstrated enhanced catalytic performance, exhibiting a higher current density, a lower onset potential, and greater CO faradaic efficiency compared to the Pd2Au12 nanocluster. This work offers new insights into the customization of the structures and properties of gold nanoclusters by regulating the doping degree of Pd heteroatoms.
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