Gold-Autocatalyzed Synthesis of Multi-Element Nanoparticles

The incorporation of multiple metal elements into a nanoparticle without phase separation holds promise for versatile applications, yet a facile synthetic strategy is lacking. Herein, a simple and facile approach is presented, i.e., gold-autocatalyzed synthesis, in which multiple miscible or immiscible metal elements are incorporated into single-phase nanoparticles at atmospheric pressure and temperature. This study reveals the autocatalytic reduction behavior of gold and the corresponding growth process of multi-element alloy nanoparticles. The mechanism of autocatalytic synthetic reactions is revealed on the basis of molecular orbitals. Furthermore, quinary multi-element nanoparticles were prepared and applied as high-performance electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline electrolytes (with overpotentials of 24 and 42 mV to deliver 10 and 100 mA cm^-2, respectively) to demonstrate the application of this strategy. This strategy enables the synthesis of multi-element materials with high tolerance of synthetic conditions for versatile applications.